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S H E E M A N 



HIS CAMPAIGNS 



A MILITARY BIOGRAPHY. 



: BY 

COL. S. M. BOWMAN AND LT.-COL. R. B. IRWIN. 



NEW YORK : 
CHARLES B. RICHARDSON. 

CINCINN'ATI: 0. F. VENT & CO. 

SPRINGFIELD : W. J. HOLLAND. 

1865. 



■s^^&i 



Entered according to Act of Onsress. in the year 1S65, 

By CHAELES B. EICHAEDSON. 

In the Clerk's OiUce of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District oi 

New York. 



Press of Geo. C. Kakd & Avekt. 



PREFACE. 



This history of Sheemajsi's army is written in tlie single in- 
terest of truth. 

Using the authentic sources of information at our command, 
we have endeavored to render full and exact justice to all, and 
to perpetuate no errors that, under the circumstances, it was 
possible to avoid. 

It is hoped that the disadvantages usually attending the 
pubhcation of a biography during the lifetime of its subject, 
are to some extent neutralized, in the present instance, by the 
co-operation in our task of many of those who themselves 
made the history we propose to recount. 

Nevertheless, and in spite of the most friendly offers of 
material assistance from Lieutenant-General Grant and Ma- 
jor-General Sherman; from the army commanders, Thomas, 
Howard, Slocum, and Schofield ; from Major-Generals Lo- 
gan, Blahi, and Jefferson C. Davis; brevet Major-General 
KiLPATRiCK, brevet Brigadier-General Hickenlooper, of the 
staff of the lamented McPherson,. and from very many other 
officers whose names we cannot now give at length, several of 
whom generously tendered free access to their reports, jour- 
nals, and private letter-books ; the editors cannot but feel 
that, on many points of interest, their work is lacking in those 
details essential to historical completeness, which time alone 
can supply. 



4 PREFACE. 

The events treated are, in some instances, perhaps too 
recent for enlightened and impartial criticism; in others, 
respect for the living or for the honored dead, whose memo- 
ries are yet green, may have imposed reticence or silence upon 
the hps of those on whose evidence depends our knowledge of 
the truth ; in still others, it will probably require the careful 
collection and severe analysis, in the future, of minute frag- 
ments of evidence, to-day widely scattered, neglected, or in- 
accessible, in order to refute errors now prevalent, but un- 
suspected. 

The editors beheve, however, that laboring with a sincere 
and constant desire to attain correctness, they have, at least, 
succeeded in estabhshing the essential outlines which the 
criticism and controversy, hostile as well as friendly, they 
cannot hope to escape, and the new testimony that will there- 
by be ehcited, will enable them or their more favored suc- 
cessors to perfect and finish. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 

BEFORE THE WAR.— General Sherman's Ancestry and Birth. — Career 
AT West Point.— Service in Florida — at Mobile — in Charleston Har- 
bor—in Georgia — in North Carolina — in California. — His Marriage. 
Service at St. Louis. — His Resignation. — In California. — President 
' OF Louisiana State Military Academy.— Re-enters the Arjiy 



CHAPTER II. 

AN EXPERIMENT. — Battle of Bull Run. — Appointed Brigadier-General 26 



CHAPTER ni. 

THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY. — Kentucky Neutrality. — Sher- 
man in Command in Kentucky— at St. Louis — AT Paducah ... 37 



CHAPTER rV. 

SHILOH.— Battle of Pitsburgh Landing , , . 47 

CHAPTER V. 

CORINTH, — The Battle of Corinth.— The Evacuation.— Appointed Major- 
General of Volunteers 00 

CHAPTER VI. 

MEMPHIS.— Repairing Railways. — In Command at Memphis. — Organiza- 
tion of Army Corps. — Preparation for the Movement on Vicksburg 71 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG.— Sherman's Orders. — The Movement be- 
gun. — The Na'S'y co-operating. — The Attack on Chickasaw Bluffs. — 
Failure of the Attack. — Change of Commanders 80 

CHAPTER Vin. 

ARKANSAS POST. — Sherman ln Cojimand of the Thirteenth Corps.— The 
Attack ON Arkansas Post. — Its Surrender 91 



6 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG.— Preparation for the Siege.— 
Up the Yazoo. — Grand Gulf.— Jackson.— Vicksburg.— The Surrender 98 



CHAPTER X. 

THE LULL AFTER VICKSBURG. — The Armies at Rest. — Sherman's Cor- 
respondence 118 

CHAPTER XI. 

TO CHATTANOOGA. — BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE.— The March to 
Chattanooga. — Change of Commanders. — Lookout Mountain. — Mis- 
sionary Ridge. — Ringgold 131 

CHAPTER Xn. 

KNOXVILLE. — Relief,— Re-organizing.— Treatment of the Inhabitants 147 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE MERIDIAN RAID.— A New Command.— Polk's Defeat.— Banks's Expe- 
dition to Red River. — Grant's Letter to Sherman upon his Promotion 159 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE ARMY OF THE CENTRE.— Its Organization and Position. — Sketch 
of Generals Thomas AND Mcpherson. — Organization OF the Army . 169 

CHAPTER XV. 

BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS.— Tunnel Hill.— BuzzARD's-RoosT Gap.— Resaca. 
— Rome. — Kingston. — Allatoona Pass 183 

CHAPTER XVI. 

ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. — Attack on Kenesaw Mountain.— Death 
of McPherson 190 

CHAPTER XVII. 

ATLANTA WON. — Stoneman's Raid on Andersonvillb.— Hooker relieved 204 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

TAKING BREATH. — Removal of Citizens from Atlanta. — Hood's Letter 
to Sherman. — The Negro Question 219 

CHAPTER XIX. 

HOOD'S INVASION. — Sketch of General Ransom . . . . . .241 



CONTENTS. 7 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. — Sketches of Generals Howard, 
Blair, Slocum, Kilpateick, and Osterhaus. — Destruction of Atlanta 256 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE LOST ARMY 273 

CHAPTER XXII. 

TO THE SEA. — Line OF March. — Approach TO Savannah . . . .279** 
t 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

A CHRISTMAS GIFT. — Assault on Fort McAllister. — Meeting of Sher- 
man and the Secretary of "War. — Thanks of the President . . 291 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE END OF HOOD. — Battle at Franklin. — Victory at Nashville . 301 

CHAPTER XXV. 

t 
SAVANNAH. — Shersian's Orders respecting the Freedmen.- Dutiks of a 

Conquered People •• 314 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

NORTHWARD.— Sketch of General Logan. — Capture of Columbia . 330 

CHAPTER XXVn. 

THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA.— Burning of Columbia.— Destruction of 
Cotton 3.39 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA.- Starting for Golds- 
BORO'. — Capture of Fort Fisher and Wilmington 357 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

TO GOLDSBORO'. — Battle of Bentonsville 367 

CHAPTER XXX. 

THE LAST STROKE. — ORDEF.S to the Army. — Stoneman's Raid , . . 378 



8 CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

DAWN. — News of Lee's Surkender. — Surhender of General Johnston 388 

CHAPTER XXXn. 

CORRESPONDENCE DURING THE TRUCE. — Orders to General Stoneman 
— General Gillmoee— General Wilson.— Letters to General Johnston 
and FROM Hm — To AD3IIEAL Dahlgren — To General Thomas . . 405 



^ CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE REJECTED AGREEMENT. — Secretary Stanton's Nine Reasons. — The 
Virginia Legislature. — President Lincoln's Policy.— The Truce. — Its 
Rejection. — General Halleck's Action 417 

CHAPTER XXXrV^ 

HOMEWARD. — The Homeward March. — Arrival at Washington. — The 
Grand Review.— Sherman's Farewell to his Army 435 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

DIGRESSIVE. — Newspaper Correspondents. — Railways. — Disloyal News- 
papers. — Negro Recruiting 447 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

AT HOME. — Sherman's Speeches at Lancaster — Cincinnati — St. Louis 464 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 

CONCLUSION. — Sherman's Personal Appearance and Characteristics. — 
Regard for the Disabled. — Promptness and Decision.— Religious Con- 
victions. —Anderso-sville Prisoners. — His Views on Reconstruction 475 



APPENDIX. 

Testimony of General Sherman before the Committee on the Conduct 
of the War relative to the Truce 491 



portraits antr glap. 

.->Ah 



PORTRAITS. -VMajoe-Genekai, Wm. T. Shekman — JMajoe-General 0. O. Howaed — Majoe- 
, Geneeal H. W. Slocum ->• Majoe-Geneeal John A. Logan r- Majoe-Geneeal Frank P. 
Blaie, Jr. — Majok-Geneeal John M. Schofield — ^^eevet Majok-Geneeal J. C. Davis 

-pBEEVET MAJOE-GENERAL J. KiLPATEICK. 

MAPS. — The Atlanta Campaign, and Siege of Atlanta — Feom Atlanta to the Sea — 
From Savannah to Goldsboeo' — Opeeations aeound Resaca. 



SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE I. 

BEFOEE THE WAK, 



William Tecumseh Shekman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, 
on tlie 8th of February, 1820. The branch of the Sherman 
family to which he belongs is descended from the Honorable 
Samuel Sherman, of Dedham, in the County of Essex, Eng- 
land, who came to Massachusetts in the year 1634, in company 
with his brother, the Keverend John Sherman, and their 
cousin. Captain John Sherman. The two latter settled at Mil- 
ford, in Connecticut, and became the founders of useful and 
influential families. Roger Sherman was a descendant of the 
captain's. Samuel Sherman, after residing for a time at Weth- 
ersfield, Connecticut, removed to Stamford, and finally to 
Stratford, in the same State. His son, Deacon John Sherman, 
went early in hfe to Woodbury, Connecticut, where the family 
remained until the death, in 1815, of his great grandson, Tay- 
lor Sherman, for many years judge of one of the courts 
of his native State. His widow removed, with her children, 
to what is now the town of Lancaster, in Fairfield County, in 
the State of Ohio. Charles Eobert Sherman, the son of Tay- 
lor Sherman, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born on the 26th of September, 1788. He was an accomphshed 
lawyer, very successful as an advocate, and fi-om 1823 to 
1829, when he died of cholera, was one of the judges of the 



10 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Superior Court of tlie State of Oliio. On tlie 8tli of May, 
1810, he married Mary Hoyt, by whom he had eleven children ; 
first, Charles Taylor, a prominent lawyer, formerly of Mans- 
field, Ohio, now of "Washington City ; second, Mary Ehzabeth ; 
third, James ; fourth, Ameha ; fifth, Julia ; sixth, William 
Tecumseh ; seventh, Parker ; eighth, John, for many years an 
influential member of the House of Representatives fi'om 
Ohio, now senator from the same State ; ninth, Susan ; tenth, 
Hoyt ; and eleventh, Frances. 

His death left this large family in very moderate circum- 
stances. Shortly afterwards, being then but little past nine 
years of age, William Tecumseh was adopted by the Honor- 
able Thomas Ewing, one of his father's most intimate friends, 
as a member of his own family. Mr. Ewing sent him to 
school in Lancaster until the spring of 1836, when having, as 
a member of CongTess from Ohio, the privilege of nominating 
a youth fi'om his congressional district for appointment as a 
cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, 
he exercised this right by procuring the warrant for his youth- 
ful charge. 

In June, 1836, Cadet Sherman entered the Academy, where, 
with the exception of the months of July and August, 1838, 
which his class was permitted to spend at home on furlough, he 
remained, pursuing the course of studies and military duties 
then in force, imtil the 30th of June, 1840, when he graduated, 
standing sixth in the order of general merit of his class of 
forty-two members — all that were left of a hundred and forty 
who had entered the institution with him. Among his class- 
mates were Stewart Van VLiet, George H. Thomas, Richard S. 
Ewell, George W. Getty, William Hays, Bushrod Pi. Johnson, 
and Thomas Jordan. 

His letters to his friends during the four important if 
uneventful years of cadet life, are very interesting, as ex- 
hibiting the variety and force of his thoughts, and the 
energy and decision of his character, at that early age. 
Through them all runs the elastic spirit of youth, and a 
manly candor and du^ectness of speech that have never left 



BEFOKE THE WAR. H 

him since. In one of these letters, dated February 17, 1839, 
he writes : — 

" Bill is very much elated at the idea of getting free of "West 
Point next June. He does not intend remaining in the army 
more than one year, then to resign, and study laio, prob- 
ably. No doubt you admire his choice ; but, to speak 
plainly and candidly, I would rather be a blacksmith. Indeed 
the nearer we come to that dreadful epoch, gTaduation-day, 
the higher opinion I conceive of the duties and Hfe of an officer 
of the United States Army, and the more confirmed in the 
wish of spending my Hfe in the service of my country. Think 
of that. The church bugle has just blown, and in a moment 
I must put on my sidearms and march to church, to Hsten to 
a two-hours' sermon, with its twenty divisions and twenty-one 
subdivisions ; . . . but I believe it is a general fact, that 
what people are compelled to do they disHke." 

" As we have, then, two or three dancing-parties each week, 
at which the gray bobtail is sufficient recommendation for an 
introduction to any one, you can well conceive how the cadets 
have always had the reputation, and have still, here in the 
East, of being great gallants and ladies' men. God only knows 
how I will sustain that reputation !" 

Speaking of the appointment, by the War Department, of 
the Board of Visitors to attend the annual examination, he 
says. May 18, 1839 :— 

" There is but little doubt of its being nearly as well selected 
as circumstances would admit of. Party seems to have had 
no influence whatever ; and, -for my part, I am very glad of it. 
I hope that our army, navy, or the JMiHtary Academy may 
never be affected by the party rancor which has for some time 
past, and does now, so materially injui'e other institutions." 

Here is a ghmpse of his tastes and occupations : — 

" The last encampment, taken all in aU, I think was the most 
pleasant one I have ever spent, even to me, who did not par- 
ticipate in the dances and balls given every week by the dif- 
ferent classes ; besides, the duties were of altogether a different 
nature from any of the previous ones, such as acting as officers 



12 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

upon guard and at artillery drills, practising at target firing 
with long twenty-fours and thii-ty-twos, mortars, howitzers, &c., 
as also cavahy exercise, wliich has been introduced this year. 
As to lording it over, the plebs, to which you referred, I had 
only one, whom I made, of course, tend to a pleb's duty, such 
as bringing water, pohcing the tent, cleaning my gun and 
accoutrements, and the like, and repaid in the usual and cheap 
coin — advice ; and since we have commenced studying I make 
him bone (study), and explain to him the difficult parts of al- 
gebra and the French grammar, since he is a good one and 
fine fellow ; but should he not carry himself straight, I should 
have him found in January and sent off, that being the usual 
way in such cases, and then take his bed, table, and chair, to 

pay for the Christmas spree 

" I presume you have seen the register of cadets for the last 
year, and remarked that I still maintain a good stand in my 
class ; and if it were not for that column of ' demerit' it would 
be still better, for they are combined with the proficiency in 
study to make out the standing in general merit. In fact, this 
year, as well as the last, in studies alone, I have been among 
the stars. ... I fear I have a difficrdt part to act for the 
next three years, because I am almost confident that your 
father's wishes and intentions will clash mtli my inchnations. 
In the first place, I think he wishes me to strive and graduate 
in the engineer corps. This I can't do. Next, to resign, and 
become a civil engineer. . . . Whilst I propose, and intend, 
to go into the infantry, be stationed in the far West, out of the 
reach of what is termed civilization, and there remain as long 
as possible." 

He had already imbibed from his association with Mr. Ewing 
the doctrines of the Whig party, but his nature and education 
compelled him to repel wdth indignation the trickery and shams 
even of his own side. Thus, he writes, April 13, 1840, of the 
approaching presidential election : — 

" You, no doubt, are not only firmly impressed, but abso- 
lutely certain, that General Harrison will be our next president. 
For my part, though of course but a ' superficial observer,' I 



BEFORE THE WAR. 13 

do not think tliere is the least hope of such a change, since 
his friends have thought proper to envelop his name with log 
cabins, gingerbread, hard cider, and such humbugging, the 
sole object of which plainly is to deceive and mislead his ig- 
norant and prejudiced, though honest, fellow-citizens ; whilst 
his quahfications, his honesty, his merits and services are 
merely alluded to." 

In the same letter is this dash of descriptive humor : — 

" Sometimes it appears that war with England is inevitable ; 
books are thrown in the corner, and broadswords and foils 
supply their place. Such lunging, cutting, and slashing — 
enough to dispose of at least a thousand British a day ; but 
the mail or recitation soon destroys the illusion with — ' It's all 
a hoax ;' or, ' Sir, you've been neglecting your studies.' " 

Immediately after his graduation, Cadet Sherman was ap- 
pointed, in accordance with the customary recommendation of 
the Academic Board, to a second lieutenancy in the Third 
Regiment of Artillery, then commanded by Colonel WiUiam 
Gates, and was assigned to Company A of that regiment. 
After enjoying the usual furlough of three months granted to 
cadets on graduating, he was ordered to join his company at 
Fort Pierce, in East Florida, where he served until November, 
1841, when the company was removed to Fort Lauderdale. 
In January, 1842, he received his commission as a first lieu- 
tenant in the same regiment, dating from November 30, 1841, 
and also an order from the War Department transferring him 
to Company G, stationed at Saint Augustine. This was 
rapid promotion for those days, when six or seven years were 
often required for a second lieutenant to obtain the next grade. 
Lieutenant Sherman was now placed in command of a smaU 
detachment of his new company engaged in guarding the post 
of Picoluta, situated on the Saint John's Eiver, opposite the 
town of Saint Augustine. 

The service in Florida was not of a very inviting character. ' 
The summer was generally passed in idleness, the heat of the 
almost tropical sun and the swarms of mosquitoes rendering 
active exertion nearly impossible ; and the winter was spent in 



14 SHERMAN AND HIS CAJVIPAIGNS. 

frequent incursions against tlie hostUe Seminoles, under the 
leadership of the wily and cruel chief Sam Jones. These 
expeditions, sometimes scouting on foot, sometimes penetrat- 
ing the everglades in boats, were always attended by severe 
labors, and involved no slight degree of risk, the numbers 
of our troops being small, and unceasing vigilance being 
necessary to guard against an ambuscade. The chmate dur- 
ing the long summer season was exceedingly unhealthy. 
Lieutenant Sherman was, however, contented, as long as there 
was a prospect of activity, and, fortunately, continued to en- 
joy good health during his entire tour of duty in this section. 
From the outset, he conceived a clear and decided opinion of 
the pohcy that should govern the war against the Seminoles. 
He was earnestly opposed to parleys or truces, beheving that 
no rehance could be placed in the promises of the Indians ; 
and was strongly in favor of the energetic exertion of the 
whole military power in the Territory in combined operations, 
having in view the prompt and relentless extermination of all 
the Indians who should continue to carry on hostilities, and 
the removal, in accordance with treaty stipulations, of those 
who should sue for peace. By such a course, he considj^-ed, 
and events have fully justified the opinion, that the war would 
be ended in a single campaign, thousands of human Hves 
saved, both of whites and Indians, and peace permanently 
given to the Territory. The Government should then en- 
deavor, he thought, to attract to the country a better class 
of white settlers, organize them into small communities, 
and require them to defend themselves for the future. Thus 
the army could be withdrawn from Florida, vdth the excep- 
tion of small garrisons at the more important permanent 
posts. 

Here is a view of his life in quarters at Fort Pierce, written 
April 10, 1841 :— 

" Now that we are at peace, and our minds withdrawn from 
those pleasant excursions and expeditions in which we have 
been engaged for the four past months, we are thrown upon 
our ingenuity to devise means of spending the time. Books 



BEFORE THE WAR. 15 

we have few, but it is no use, you camiot read any but the 
lightest trash; and even the newspapers, which you would 
suppose we would devour, require a greater effort of mind to 
search than we possess. We attribute it to the chmate, and 
bring up these native lazy Minorcans as examples, and are 
satisfied. Yet, of course, we must do something, however 
little. WeU, in this, each pursues his own fancy. The major 
and I have a parcel of chickens, in which we have, by com- 
petition, taken enough interest to take up a few minutes of 
the day ; besides, I have a Httle fawn to play with, and crows, 
a crane, &c. ; and if you were to enter my room you would 
hesitate whether it was the abode of man or beasts. In one 
corner is a hen, sitting ; in another, some crows, roosted on 
bushes ; the other is a httle bed of bushes for the httle fawn ; 
whilst in the fourth is my bucket, wash-basin, glass, &c. . So 
you see it is three to one." 

In a subsequent letter he touches the same vein : — 

" I've got more pets now than any bachelor in the country 
— innumerable chickens, tame pigeons, white rabbits, and a 
full-blood Indian pony — rather smaU matters for a man to 
deal with, you doubtless think, but it is far better to spend 
time in trifles such as these than drinking or gambhng." 

His desire for the freedom of frontier life is thus again 
shown : — 

" We hear that the new Secretary of War intends proposing 
to the next Congress to raise two rifle regiments for the West- 
ern service. As yo.u are at Washington, I presume you can 
learn whether it is so or not, for I should like to go in such a 
regiment, if stationed in the far West ; not that I am the least 
displeased with my present berth, but when the regiment 
goes, North, it will, in aU hkehhood, be stationed in the \dcinity 
of sfome city, from which God spare me." 

His indignation at any thing not perfectly straightforward, 
shows itself in an energetic remonstrance to a fiiend : — 

" If you have any regard for my feelings, don't say the word 
'insinuation' again. You may abuse me as much as you 
please, but I'd prefer, of the two, to be accused of teUing a 



16 SHERMAN AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

direct falseliood than stating any tiling evasively or under- 
hand ; and if I have ever been guilty of such a thing, it was 
unintentionally." 

In March, 1842, his company was removed to Fort Morgan, 
situated on Mobile Point, at the entrance of the Bay of Mo- 
bile, and twenty miles from the city. Here Lieutenant Sher- 
man remained, performing garrison service, varied, in the 
intervals of duty, by fishing, boating, and occasional, though 
not frequent, visits to the city, until the following June, when 
the station of the company was again changed to Fort Moul- 
trie, on Sullivan's Island, Charleston Harbor. Moultrieville, 
on SuUivan's Island, quite near the fort, was, at that time, a 
place of fashionable resort during the summer season for the 
wealthy families of Charleston and South Carolina generally, 
many of whom had temporary residences there, to which they 
removed on the approach of hot weather, to escape from the 
malarious influences of the city and lower country, and enjoy 
the cool breezes and the sea-bathing. Officers of the army 
were at that time sought after, and hospitably entertained by 
nearly all of the better classes of society in the South, and 
Lieutenant Sherman was thus, upon his arrival at Fort Moul- 
trie, ushered into a hfe entirely new to him. During the sum- 
mer he made many agreeable and some valuable acquaint- 
ances, which were cemented and extended during the following 
winter, when he, in common with the other officers, was 
almost overwhelmed "wdth invitations to accept the hospitah- 
ties of the citizens of Charleston, to whom they had been 
attentive at the fort. 

Hunting was always a favorite amusement with him, and 
while stationed at Fort Moultrie, he enjoyed frequent oppor- 
tunities of indulging this taste. Thus, with boating and 
drum-fishing, were passed his leisure hours during the first 
year of his stay. In the fall of 1843, he availed himself 
of a four-months' leave of absence to visit his home at 
Lancaster, and while there became engaged to Miss Ellen 
Ewing, the accompHshed daughter of his gmardian, and the 
friend and companion of his school-days. At the expira- 



BEFORE THE WAR. 17 

tion of his leave, in December, 1843, he rejoined his post, 
making an interesting detour down the Mississippi river to 
New Orleans, and thence by way of Mobile and Savannah. 
During the months of February, March, and April, 1844, he 
was associated with Colonel Sylvester Churchill, on a board 
of three officers, appointed by the War Department, to inves- 
tigate a large number of claims for horses lost by the Georgia 
and Alabama mihtia, in the Florida war in 1837 and 1838. 
Most of these claims were supposed by the Government to be 
fraudulent, and the members of the board were required to 
hear and patiently sift the evidence on the spot, and after- 
wards report the facts and their opinions to the War Depart- 
ment. During the course of the investigation the board was 
in session at Marietta, Georgia, at Bellefonte, Alabama, and 
at several other places in the central and northern sections of 
those States. Their report gave great satisfaction to the De- 
partment, and was considered by it as the means of saving 
vast sums of money to the treasury, while, at the same time, 
awarding justice to all con^jemed. 

All this time the young officer was not unmindful of the 
necessity of professional study and improvement. He took 
care to inform himself of the topographical features of the 
country in which he was stationed or through which he 
travelled, as weU as in regard to the occuj)ations, character, 
social organization, and sentiments of the inhabitants. The 
value of geogTaphy he specially appreciated. He wrote to his 
friend, Philemon Ewing : — 

" Every day I feel more and more in need of an atlas, such 
as your father has at home ; and as the knowledge of ge- 
ography, in its minutest details, is essential to a true mihtary 
education, the idle time necessarily spent here might be prop- 
erly devoted to it. I wish, therefore, you would procure for 
me the best geography and atlas (not school) extant." 

After the adjournment of the Board, he began to turn his 
attention to such legal studies as might prove useful to him in 
his profession. Thus he writes, under date of June 12, 1844, 
from Fort Moultrie : — 

2 



18 SHERMAN AM) HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" Since my return, I have not been running about in the 
city or the island, as heretofore, but have endeavored to 
interest myself in Blackstone, which, with the assistance of 
Bouvier's Dictionary, I find no difficulty in understanding. I 
have read all four volumes, Starkie on Evidence, and other 
books, semi-legal and semi-historical, and would be obHged to 
you if you would give me a list of svich books as you were re- 
quired to read, not includhag your local or State law. I in- 
tend to read the second and third volumes of Blackstone 
again, also Kent's Commentaries, which seem, as far as I am 
capable of judging, to be the basis of the common-law prac- 
tice. This course of study I have adopted, from feeling the 
want of it in the duties to which I was lately assigned." 

And again, on the 20tli of October : — 

" I have no idea of making the law a profession, by no 
means ; but, as an officer of the army, it is my duty and inter- 
est to be prepared for any situation that fortune or luck may 
offer. It is for this alone that I prepare, and not for profes- 
sional practice." 

Early in 1845, he again paid a brief visit to his home in 
Ohio, to recover from the effects of illness. After his return 
to the South, he was, for a short time, stationed on detached 
service at the arsenal at Augusta, Georgia ; and, on another 
occasion, was detailed as a member of a general court-martial 
sitting at "Wilmington, North Carolina, where he had the pleas- 
ure of meeting once more with his old comrades of Company 
A, Third Artillery. 

On the breaking out of the Mexican war, Lieutenant Sher- 
man was assigned to duty as recruiting officer at Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania. He remained there, however, but Httle more 
than a month, when his repeated apphcations for active ser- 
vice were met by an order from the War Department, trans- 
ferring him to Company F, of his regiment, then about to saO 
for California, to meet Colonel Kearny's expedition across the 
plains. The first intimation he received of this change was 
conveyed by a letter, which reached him on the 28th of June, 
1816, ft-ora his friend, Lieutenant E. O. C. Ord, who was 



BEFORE THE WAR. 19 

attached to Ms new company. On the 29tli of June lie re- 
ceived the official orders, and on the following day, without 
seeking to visit his home and friends, pausing only to make a 
few hasty arrangements with regard to his private affairs, he 
set out for New York. The company sailed from New York 
about the middle of July, in the ship Lexington, and after a 
voyage marked by no special incidents, touching at Kio de 
Janeiro and Valparaiso, landed at San Francisco. Contrary 
to the anticipations of active service entertained at the outset, 
the career of the company in Cahfornia, far away from the 
theatre of war, proved uneventful. During his service there, 
Lieutenant Sherman was detailed as acting assistant adjutant- 
general of the forces in the Tenth Mihtary Department, imder 
the command of Brigadier-General Stephen "W. Kearny, after- 
wards under that of Colonel Eichard B. Mason, First Dra- 
goons ; and in this capacity attracted the notice of his brother 
officers by the efficiency, clearness, and administrative abihty 
he showed in the discharge of the responsible duties confided 
to him. In 1850 he returned to the Atlantic States, and on 
the 1st of May, in the same year, was married to Miss Ellen 
Ewing, at the residence, in "Washington City, of her father, 
then Secretary of the Literior under President Taylor. Tn 
the following September he received what was, in those days, 
considered one of the highest prizes the military profession 
had in store for the subaltern, being appointed a commissary 
of subsistence with the rank of captain. He was immediately 
assigned to duty, as such, upon the staff of the commanding 
officer of the military department of the West, and stationed 
at St. Louis. Li March of the following year he received 
from the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, a commission as captain, by brevet, to date from May 
30, 1848, "for meritorious services in Cahfornia during the 
war in Mexico." 

On the 6th of September, 1853, Captain Sherman resigned 
his commission in the army, and hke many of his companions 
at that time, sought for such advancement in civil life as the 
army seemed little likely to afford. He was offered and 



20 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

accepted tlie position of manager of tlie brancli banking-house 
of Messrs. Lucas, Turner & Company, at San Francisco, 
California, and accordingly went a second time to the Pacific, 
intending now to establish his home there. 

During all this time the seeds of discord had been ripening 
in the hot soil of slavery. The Southern statesmen, accus- 
tomed to rule, began to perceive that the country would not 
always submit to be ruled by them ; that hostility to slavery 
was a sentiment deeply rooted in the minds of the people of 
the Free States, and daily spreading its influence ; and that 
the accession of men holding these opinions to power in the 
national councils and the national executive, meant nothing 
less than such a Kmitation of the further extension of slavery 
as would be fatal to its existence, even where it was abeady 
estabhshed. Slavery, they believed, could not thrive in con- 
tact with freedom ; and they had come to regard slavery as 
essential to their political and social existence. Without a 
slave caste, they could have no aristocratic caste. No class 
can enjoy exclusive rights except at the expense of another, 
whose rights are curtailed or extinguished. They began to 
isolate themselves from the North, as they termed the Free 
States ; from its dangerous opinions, by refusing to read or 
hear them ; from its society, by withdrawing their sons and 
daughters from Northern schools and colleges, and by declin- 
ing to associate with Northern men and women who were not 
well known to be free from the pernicious doctrines ; and finally, 
they prepared to throw off their political allegiance to the 
Government of the United States the moment it should have 
passed beyond their control. The Northern poHticians, accus- 
tomed to follow the lead of their Southern associates, gen- 
erally beheved that the defeat of Fremont, in 1856, as the 
EepubHcan candidate for the presidency, had insured the 
perpetuity of the Union ; the Southern politicians, generally, 
beheved that the date of its dissolution was postponed during 
the next presidential term, and that four years and a facile 
President were given them to prepare for it. And they began 
to do so. 



BEFORE THE WAR. 21 

Tlie pro-slavery leaders were well aware that tlie attempted 
overthrow of the National Government would be hkely, even 
in the disgnise of peaceable secession, to be resisted by force. 
They accordingly got every thing in readiness to carry out 
their plans by force. The wiser heads among them hoped, if 
they did not altogether expect, to be allowed to secede in 
peace, but they were as determined as the rest to appeal to 
war in the last resort. Accordingly, during Mr. Buchanan's 
Administration, there was set on foot throughout the slave- 
holding States a movement embodying the reorganization of 
the mihtia, the estabhshment and enlargement of State mili- 
tary academies, and the collection of arms, ammunition, and 
warHke materials of all kinds. The federal Secretary of "War, 
Mr. Floyd, thoroughly in the interests of the pro-slavery 
conspirators, aided them by sending to the arsenals in the 
Slave States large quantities of the national arms and mili- 
tary supplies ; the quotas of the Southern States under the 
mihtia laws were anticipated, in some cases by several years ; 
and he caused large sales of arms to be secretly made, at low 
prices, to the agents of those States. The pro-slavery leaders 
then began, quietly, to select and gather round them the men 
whom they needed, and upon whom they thought they could 
rely. Unable always to explain to these men their purposes, 
they were often compelled to trust to circumstances and the 
force of association to complete the work ; and in doing so, 
they occasionally, though not often, made mistakes. 

Among the men they fixed upon was Captain Sherman. 
Becognizing his aptitude in military art and science, the lead- 
ers in Louisiana determined to place him at the head of the 
new State Mihtary Academy at Alexandria. It was explained 
to him that the object of estabHshing the school was to aid in 
suppressing negro insurrections, to enable the State to protect 
her borders from the Indian incursions, then giving trouble in 
Arkansas and Texas, and to form a nucleus for defence, in case 
of an attack by a foreign enemy. 

It is rare, indeed, that a man whose youth has been spent 
in the army does not, in his maturer years, retain a lurking de- 



22 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

sii*e for the old life, tlie old companions, tlie old ways. Let 
tlie temptation be offered in a moment wlien the cares and de- 
tails of civil life look more than ordinarily dull, when the future 
seems clouded, and the warm memories of former days may 
present a contrast too vivid for most men to resist. Cincin- 
natus leaves the plough and returns with the senators to the 
camp. So it was with Captain Sherman. Messrs. Lucas 
Turner & Company had broken up their branch-house at San 
Francisco. The offer was in a line with his associations, his 
tastes, and his ambition. He accordingly accepted the office, 
and entered upon his duties as Superintendent of the Louisiana 
State Military Academy, early in the year 1860. The hberal 
salary of five thousand dollars a year was attached to the 
office. 

The efficiency which Captain Sherman here displayed con- 
firmed the leaders in that State in the correctness of their 
choice, and satisfied them that he was a man to be kept at any 
price. They were met at the outset by a deep-seated loyalty, 
by a deep-rooted attachment and fidelity to the Union, upon 
which they had by no means calculated. Every effort was 
expended to convert him to their way of thinking, but in vain. 
Surface opinions change with the wind, but it is useless to 
argue against fundamental beliefs. And such was the charac- 
ter of Sherman's attachment to the Union. 

As events ripened, he saw clearly that the election of Mr. 
Lincoln to the presidency would be followed by the general 
secession of the Southern States, and that secession meant 
war. When, at length, after using his influence to its fullest 
extent in favor of the Union, he perceived that the result could 
no longer be avoided, he decided upon his own course, and 
communicated his decision to the Governor of the State in 
this clear and straightforward letter, dated January 18, 1861 : 

" Sir — ^As I occupy a gwast-military position under this State, 
I deem it proper to acquaint you that I accepted such position 
when Louisiana was a State in the Union, and when the motto 
of the seminary, inserted in marble over the main door, was : 



BEFORE THE WAR. 23 

' By the liberality of the Gemral Government of the United States : 
The Union — Esto Perpetua.' 

" Kecent events foreshadow a great change, and it becomes 
all men to choose. If Louisiana withdraws from the Federal 
Union, I prefer to maintain my allegiance to the old Constitu- 
tion as long as a fragment of it survives, and my longer stay 
here would be wrong in every sense of the word. In that 
event, I beg you will send or appoint some authorized agent 
to take charge of the arms and munitions of war here belong- 
ing to the State, or direct me what disposition should be made 
of them. 

" And furthermore, as President of the Board of Supervisors, 
I beg you to take immediate steps to relieve me as superin- 
tendent the moment the State determines to secede ; for on no 
earthly account will I do any act, or think any thought, hostile 
to or in defiance of the old Government of the United States." 

His resignation was, of course, promptly accepted, and he 
at once returned to St. Louis. In consequence of the uncer- 
tain aspect of pohtical affahs, he had deemed it most prudent 
that his family should not accompany him to the South. 

He was not destined to remain long inactive. The crisis for 
which the pro-slavery leaders had been so long preparing was 
precipitated by the rashness of the more incautious among 
themselves, and hurried forward by the frenzy of the people. 
The far-sighted conspirators had proposed to themselves to 
capture Washington before the North should be able to organ- 
ize resistance, and to proclaim themselves the true and lawful 
Government of the United States. They would have declared 
Mr. Lincoln's election, with the avowed purpose, among others, 
of disregarding what they considered as theu' constitutional 
right of holding slaves in the Territories, as unconstitutional, and 
therefore null, and would have based their assumption of power 
on the right of seK-preservation. From their knowledge of the 
disposition of most of the foreign ministers resident at the Fed- 
eral capital, they expected their recognition by the leading 
European powers to follow closely upon the act. They counted 



24 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

upon the trade-loving and the peace-loving instincts of the people 
of the Free States to keep the North inert. The great Central 
and "Western States would probably be with them, and ^ew 
England they would gladly leave, as they were accustomed to 
say, " out in the cold." But while the cool-headed conspira- 
tors plotted thus skUfully, one element of their calculation 
failed. It had been necessary to their plans to fire the Southern 
heart to the point of rebeUion : the Southern brain took fire 
as well. Events took the bit in their teeth. On the 12th of 
April, 1861, Mr. Davis gave the order to open upon Fort Sum- 
ter. At noon the first gun was fired, and the war was begun. 

Sherman had gone to Washington about the time of Mr. Lin- 
coln's inauguration, and had talked of the state of affairs with 
characteristic freedom. He believed that war was inevitable ; 
that it would be no pantomime of wooden swords, but a long 
and bitter struggle. He endeavored in vain, in earnest 
nervous language, to impress his convictions upon the Ad- 
ministration. Nobody hstened to him except the President, 
who listened to everybody. Sherman went to him to offer his 
services in any capacity. His strong words and strong 
thoughts elicited a smile from Mr. Lincoln. " We shall not 
need many men Hke you," he said ; " the affair vnR soon blow 
over." Some of Sherman's friends in the army, who knew his 
talents, and, Hke him, beheved there would be a war, urged 
liis appointment to the chief clerkship of the War Department, 
a position which at that time was always held by a confiden- 
tial adviser of the Secretary of War ; and somewhat later he 
was strongly recommended for the position of quartermaster- 
general of the army, made vacant by the resignation of Briga- 
dier-General Joseph E. Johnston. Neither application was 
successful. 

Sherman knew the Southern people ; the Administration 
did not, nor did the people of the North in general. Li his 
own words, we were sleeping upon a volcano. 

On the 15th of April, 1861, the President called for seventy- 
five thousand men to serve for three months, to be employed 
for the purpose of enforcing the laws of the United States, and 



BEFORE THE WAE. 25 

to hold and occupy the forts, arsenals, navy-yards, and other 
pubhc places belonging to the National Government which 
had been seized by the rebels. Sherman was urged by his 
friends to go home to Ohio, and raise one of the three months' 
regiments. He declined to have any thing to do with such a 
trifling expedient, as he considered it. He did not beheve 
that the three months' men would do any good, or that they 
could do any good. This affair was no riot, but a revolution. 
It was not a mob, to be put down by the posse comitatus, but a 
war, to be fought by an army. " Why," he said, " you might 
as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning house with 
a squirt-gun." 

He used all the influence at his command to induce the 
authorities to recognize his view of the case, and, by at once 
organizing the whole military force of the country, to crush 
the rebellion in its infancy. But the authorities still beheved 
there would be no fight, that the rebelhon would succumb at 
the sight of the power of the Union. 

When the Government presently decided to add a regiment 
of artillery, one of cavalry, and nine of infantry to the regular 
army, Sherman at once applied for a command in this force, 
and, on the 13th of June, received a commission as colonel of 
the Thirteenth Kegiment of Infantry, to date from May 14th. 
As very Httle was done, just then, in regard to the organization 
of the new regiments, beyond the appointment of officers and 
a httle feeble recruiting. Colonel Sherman's services were, like 
those of most of the newly-appointed officers who were known 
to possess military skill, made use of in another dii*ection. 
Richmond had been made the capital of the Confederate 
States. A force was collected to move on that city, capture 
it, and so suppress the rebellion at a blow. Major Irvin 
McDowell, assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Lieuten- 
ant-General Scott, had been appointed a brigadier-general in 
the regular army, and was assigned to the command of these 
troops. Colonel Sherman was ordered to report to him, and 
received the command of a brigade in the division of Brigadier- 
General Daniel Tyler. 



26 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE n. 



AN EXPERIMENT. 



The troops wliicli were to move "on to Eiclimond," in 
accordance witli the popular cry, were encamped in some sort 
of order on tlie south bank of the Potomac, from the Chain 
Bridge to Alexandria, and were thrown together, with more or 
less haste, into what were called five divisions, of two, three, 
or four brigades each, Brigadier-General Daniel Tyler, of 
the Connecticut Volunteers, commanded the First Di\dsion, 
Colonels David Hunter, Sixth Cavalry, Samuel P. Heintzel- 
man. Seventeenth Infantry, and Dixon S. Miles, Second In- 
fantry, the Second, Thhd, and Fifth, respectively, and Briga- 
dier-General Theodore Eunyon, of the New Jersey mihtia, the 
Fourth Division. Three of these were old and experienced 
officers of the regular army, who had seen service in Mexico 
and in many Indian fights. Brigadier-General Eobert C. 
Schenck commanded the Fhst Brigade of Tyler's division; 
Colonel Erasmus D. Keyes, Eleventh Infantry, the Second; 
Colonel Sherman the Third Brigade, composed of the Thir- 
teenth, Sixty-ninth, and Seventy-ninth New York, and Second 
Wisconsin regiments of infantry, with Captain Ayres's Battery 
E, Third Eegular Ai'tillery ; and Brigadier-General Israel B. 
Eichardson commanded the Fourth Brigade. The troops 
were all raw. Most of them had volunteered for three months. 
As the end of that period approached, these men naturally 
thought more of home than they did of battle, more of living 
to see their friends than of dying for their country. Many of 
the volunteers had never fired a gun before, and felt nearly as 
much trepidation in loading their own pieces, and as much 



AN EXPERIMENT. 07 

alarm in discharging tliem, as the most deadly fire of the ene- 
my could have occasioned. Captains knew little or nothing 
of tactics beyond the manual of arms and the facings. Colonels 
could not put their regiments through the simplest manoeuvres. 
Regimental commanders did not know their brigade command- 
ers, and brigade commanders made the acquaintance of their 
division commanders upon the field of battle. According to 
the ideas of those days, there was a deficiency of transporta- 
tion ; that is to say, each regiment had not a score of wagons : 
and the quartermasters in Washington were at their wits' 
end to supply the demand. Wagons intended for General 
McDowell's army went to General Patterson's, and General 
McDowell's army must therefore wait. The District of Columbia 
was embraced in a separate miHtary department, called the 
Department of Washington. Its commander was overwhelmed 
by ofl&ce details ; so the troops which were to go to the Army 
of Northeastern Yirginia got mislaid, and had to be hunted 
up and hurried into brigades at the fifty-ninth minute of the 
eleventh hour. Every thing that was done was rushed into 
the newspapers, and most things that were intended to be 
done. The railroad lines leading South, with only shght 
breaks, were still in use, and passes over them were freely 
issued, so that the rebel authorities might read the plan of to- 
day's operations at breakfast. But the people, drunk with 
hope, saw none of these things, or saw them double ; and 
those who might have led the people, ran after them. 

It may be said, in defence of the delusions of the hour, that 
our army was numerically stronger, as well ofiicered, better 
equipped, and as well instructed as the rebel forces ; and so 
indeed it was. But the rebel army was to act upon the defen- 
sive, ours upon the oflfensive. The advantage of gTOund would 
be with the enemy, the advantage of surprise, and the great 
advantage of cohesion at the moment of attack. On the other 
hand, our troops would have to move, to find the enemy, and 
to attack him in his chosen position, or sustain his fire de- 
livered from behind cover or behind earthworks. But the 
salient point of this question is, that the result of any move- 



28 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

ment, by either side, was left to chance ; no man could have 
indicated the causes which would determine the result. It 
was purely chance whether any movement ordered from head- 
quarters would be made at all; a rare chance whether it 
would be made at the time designated in orders ; a mu'acu- 
lous chance if it were made exactly as ordered. By waiting a 
very httle while, the result might have been reasonably 
assured. We could not wait. In the American character, 
Hope crowds Patience to the wall. 

After much jpubhc discussion and excitement, the order was 
given to General McDowell to move forward. 

The enemy had a force of about twenty-two thousand men, 
organized in eight brigades, with twenty-nine guns, encamped 
and intrenched at Manassas Junction, and commanded by 
General Gustavo T. Beauregard. They had outposts at Fair- 
fax Courthouse, and at Centreville, seven miles fi'om the Junc- 
tion. The brigades were commanded by Brigadier-Generals 
Ewell, Holmes, D. R. Jones, Longstreet, and Bonham, and 
Colonels Cocke, Evans, and Early. 

General Joseph E. Johnston was at Winchester, with about 
twelve thousand men, watching our forces under Major-Gen- 
eral Robert Patterson, one of the Pennsylvania three months' 
militia. Generals Bee and Bartow and Colonel Jackson com- 
manded the brigades of General Johnston's army. General 
Patterson's force amounted to twenty-three thousand men of 
aU arms, chiefly three months' mihtia. 

General McDowell was to move directly upon Manassas on 
the 9th of July, and, turning the enemy's right flank, cut off 
his forces from Richmond. The movement began on the 16th. 
The men, unaccustomed to marching, moved very slowly. 
Long years of peace had nourished in the minds of our citizens 
a reluctance to endure pain and privation, and the citizens had 
not become soldiers by a mere change of clothing. The men 
stopped every few moments to pick blackberries, stepped 
aside to avoid mud-puddles, crossed fords gingerly, emptied 
their canteens and fllled them with fresh water whenever they 
came to a stream. Thus the army did not reach Centreville 



AN EXPERIMENT. 29 

until the niglit of the 18th. Two days were spent here in re- 
connoissances, and on the 21st the final movement began. AH 
this time the enemy, fully advised of our movements by the 
daily papers, was busily engaged in concentrating his avail- 
able forces to meet our attack. That he would do so was 
obvious. General Scott had undertaken to guard against this, 
so far as the army under Johnston was concerned, by instruct- 
ing General Patterson to observe him. Accordingly, after 
many delays, General Patterson moved from Martinsburg to 
Bunker Hill, nine miles from Winchester, and then turned 
aside and marched to Charlestown. At the very moment 
when Johnston was withdrawing with all speed from Winches- 
ter, and hurrpng to Beauregard's aid, Patterson was retreat- 
ing to the Potomac. 

Tyler's division, which had marched from its camj) near the 
Chain Bridge, on the extreme right of our lines, by the Yienna 
Eoad, was the first to reach Centreville. General Tyler's 
orders were to seize and hold this position, but not to bring on 
an engagement. He had no sooner arrived there than, elated 
at finding our progress undisputed by the enemy, he took the 
road to the left and pushed on, with Richardson's brigade, 
Ayres's battery, and a few cavalry, to Blackburn's Ford, where 
the Manassas and Centreville road crosses Bull Run. The 
ground on the left bank of that stream is, just here, open and 
gently undulating; on the other side it becomes at once 
heavily wooded, and ascends rather abruptly to the elevated 
plateau on which Manassas Junction is situated. General 
Tyler was surprised to find that the enemy had not occupied 
the left bank at the ford ; and still more, that they permitted 
our men to approach it unmolested. Nor was the enemy to 
be seen on the opposite bank. He deployed the infantry, and 
caused Captain Ayres to open fire from his battery on the 
woods opposite. Instantly a hot fire, as if from four thousand 
muskets at once, says the general, was opened from the woods. 
Our troops replied for a short while, and then retired. This 
movement was contrary to orders ; had no object worth mention- 
ing ; and its result had a most dispiriting effect upon the whole 



30 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

army of General McDowell. Before it, the men had been all en- 
tliusiasm. They either would not meet the enemy at all, they 
dreamed, or they would whip him and chase him to Richmond. 
The enemy had been met, had not fled at the sight of us, and 
had not been whipped. The enthusiasm, which had been at the 
boiling point, was chilled by a doubt. The delay of the 19th 
and 20th, while waiting for the subsistence to come up, spread 
and increased the flatness. 

The original plan was to turn the enemy's right, and so cut 
off his communication with Richmond. General McDowell 
had objected to moving by his right to turn the enemy's left, 
because the movement would be indecisive. At the eleventh 
hour, this indecisive course was adopted, for the reasons that 
the roads on the left appeared impracticable, that the enemy's 
attention had been attracted to Blackburn's Ford by the 
blunder of the 18th, and that it had now become an object to 
guard against the expected arrival of Johnston, by occupying 
his line of railway communication. 

On the night of Saturday, the 20th of July, General Mc- 
Dowell issued his orders for the attack. Runyon's Fourth 
Division was left in the rear near Fairfax Courthouse. Tyler's 
division — except Richardson's brigade, which was to remain 
at Blackburn's Ford and report to Colonel Miles — was to 
march at half-past two o'clock on Sunday morning down the 
"Warrenton road, and threaten the Stone Bridge. Schenck's 
and Sherman's brigades were encamped on the Warrenton 
road, about a mile beyond Centreville ; Keyes's brigade, 
which had become separated from the rest of the division, had 
gone into camp half a mile east of Centreville. Hunter's 
division, which was about a mile and a half beyond Keyes's, 
was to move at two o'clock, and close up on Tyler. Heintzel- 
man's division, which was encamped on the Braddock road, 
two miles east of Centreville, was to march at half-past two, 
and fall in in the rear of Hunter. Under cover of Tyler's 
attack, Hunter and Heintzelman were to move to the right, 
cross Bull Run at Sudley's Springs, and turn the enemy's left. 
Milcs's di^dsion was held in reserve at Centreville, to guard 



AN EXPERIMENT. 31 

against a movement of the enemy by Blackburn's Ford, to cut 
off our rear. 

These dispositions, except as to Kunyon's division, were 
well made. Had they been executed, the result of the day 
must have been very different. 

At a blacksmith's shop, about a mile in advance of Tyler's 
position, a branch road leads from the Warrenton pike towards 
Sudley's Springs. If Tyler had marched boldly forward, the 
rear of his division should have cleared that point in an hour, 
or, at the very latest, in an hour and a half. This would have 
enabled Hunter to file to the right certainly by four o'clock. 
In fact, the rear of Tyler's division did not pass the junction 
of the roads until half-past five, or fully an hour and a haK 
later than it should have done. Schenck's brigade, which led 
the advance, started punctually at the time fixed in orders, 
but, as General Tyler liimseK explains, he felt called upon to 
move slowly and with caution, feeling his way down to the 
Stone Bridge. Thus occurred a fatal delay. 

The head of Schenck's brigade reached the Stone Bridge 
about six o'clock, and the artillery of his and Sherman's 
brigades opened fire about half an hour later. Hunter's di- 
vision could not find the road by which it was to march, and 
having been led by its guide by a vnde detour through the 
woods, did not reach the ford until between half -past nine and 
ten o'clock, and occupied more than an hour in passing, so 
that it was after eleven o'clock before Heintzelman began to 
cross. The head of Hunter's column became engaged almost 
immediately after crossing Bull Run, and drove the enemy 
steadily until about noon. 'W'hiile Hunter was crossing, orders 
were sent to Tyler to press his attack. Colonel Sherman, -vsdth 
his brigade, accordmgty crossed BuU Bun at a ford just above 
the Stone Bridge, and pushed forward down the Warrenton 
road until he joined the left of Burnside's brigade of Hunter's 
division, then hotly engaged ; Ayres's battery, being i nable 
to cross the ford, was left behind. Sherman came into action 
about half-past twelve, and was at once ordered by General 
McDowell to join in the pursuit of the enemy, then falling 



32 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

back on tlie left of tlie Groveton road. Placing Colonel 
Quimbj's Thirteenth New York regiment in front, in column 
by division, Colonel Sherman ordered the other regiments to 
follow in line of battle, in the order of the Second Wisconsin, 
Seventy-ninth New York, and Sixty-ninth New York. 

Thus far the tide of success had been unbroken. Our troops 
had effected the passage of Bull Kun, had driven the enemy 
before them in confusion a mile and a haK, and we had suc- 
ceeded in uniting three divisions under the crest of the hill, 
which was to be the decisive point of the battle. On the left 
Keyes was driving back the enemy, enabling Schenck to cross 
and remove the obstructions in his front, and to turn the 
enemy's right. The crisis was at hand. 

In his official report. Colonel Sherman thus graphically de- 
scribes the operations of his brigade at this time : " Quimby's 
regiment advanced steadily down the hill and up the ridge, 
from which he opened fire upon the enemy, who had made an- 
other stand on ground very favorable to him ; and the regiment 
continued advancing as the enemy gave way, till the head of 
the column reached the point near which Ricketts's battery 
was so severely cut up. The other regiments descended the 
hill in Kne of battle, under a severe cannonading; and the 
ground affording comparative shelter against the enemy's ar- 
tillery, they changed direction by the right flank and followed 
the road before mentioned. At the point where this road 
crossed the bridge to our left the ground was swept by a most 
severe fire by artillery, rifle, and musketry, and we saw in suc- 
cession several regiments driven from it, among them the 
Zouaves and battahon of Marines. Before reaching the crest 
of the hill the roadway was worn deep enough to afford shelter, 
and I kept the several regiments in it as long as possible ; but 
when the Wisconsin Second was abreast of the enemy, by 
order of Major Wadsworth, of General McDowell's staff, I 
ordered it to leave the roadway by the left flank and to attack 
the enemy. This regiment ascended to the brow of the hill 
steadily, received the severe fire of the enemy, returned it with 
spirit, and advanced, delivering its fire. This regiment is mii- 



AN EXPERIMENT. 33 

formed in gray cloth, almost identical with that of the great 
bulk of the secession army, and when the regiment fled in con- 
fusion, and retreated towards the road, there was a universal 
cry that they were being fired upon by our own men. The 
regiment rallied again, passed the brow of the hill a second 
time, and was again repulsed in disorder. By this time the 
New York Seventy-ninth had closed up, and, in hke manner, it 
was ordered to cross the brow of the hill and drive the enemy 
from cover. It was impossible to get a good view of the ground. 
In it there was one battery of artillery, which poured an in- 
cessant fire upon our advancing column, and the ground was 
irregular, with small clusters of pines, afi'ording shelter, of 
which the enemy took good advantage. The fire of rifles and 
musketry was very severe. The Seventy-ninth, headed by its 
colonel (Cameron), charged across the hill, and, for a short 
time, the contest was severe. They rallied several times under 
fii-e, but finally broke, and gained the cover of the hill. This 
left the field open to the New York Sixty-ninth, Colonel Cor- 
coran, who, in his turn, led his regiment over the crest, and 
had a full, open view of the ground so severely contested. 
The firing was very severe, and the roar of cannon, musketry, 
and rifles incessant. It was manifest the enemy was here in 
great force, far superior to us at that point. The Sixty-ninth 
held the ground for some time, but finally fell back in dis- 
order." 

It was now haK-past three o'clock in the afternoon. The 
men had been up since two in the morning, had been on their 
legs ever since, had been engaged for four hours, and had 
eaten nothing. The day was intensely hot. The troops, un- 
used to any of these things, were fagged. 

There was a slight lull on the extreme right. Porter's 
brigade of Hunter's division, and Griffin's and Kicketts's 
batteries were sent forward to occupy the crest of the hill, 
from which the enemy had been pushed. Hardly had they 
reached the new position, when a murderous volley was poured 
into them, at pistol range, from the clump of pines that skirted 
the hiU Early's brigade, of Johnston's army, had arrived. 

8 



34 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and thrown itself on our right flank. Our line began to melt. 
The movement was taken up reluctantly hj some regiments, 
but soon became general. The retreat became confused, and, 
beyond Bull Bun, the confusion became a rout. The enemy 
did not pursue. That night, while a council of war was dis- 
cussing the expediency of holding Centreville, the sea of panic- 
stricken fugitives was making for Washington. Orders were 
issued for the coherent remains of the army to follow. 

Colonel Sherman says, of his own command : " This retreat 
was by night, and disorderly in the extreme. The men of 
different regiments mingled together, and some reached the 
river at Arhngton, some at Long Bridge, and the greater part 
returned to their former camps at or near Fort Corcoran. I 
reached this point at noon next day, and found a miscellaneous 
crowd crossing over the aqueduct and ferries. Conceiving 
this to be demoralizing, I at once commanded the guard to be 
increased, and all persons attempting to pass over to be 
stopped. This soon produced its effect. Men sought their 
proper companies, comparative order was restored, and all are 
now (July 25) posted to the best advantage." 

The loss in Sherman's brigade was one hundred and eleven 
killed, two hundred and five wounded, two hundred and ninety- 
three missing ; total, six hundred and nine. Our total loss in 
this engagement, exclusive of missing, was four hundred and 
eighty-one killed, one thousand and eleven wounded. The 
loss in kiUed and wounded in Sherman's brigade was nearly a 
fourth of that of the entire army. The enemy lost, in all, three 
hundred and seventy-eight killed, fourteen hundred and eighty- 
nine wounded, and thhty missing. His loss in killed and 
wounded was considerably greater than ours, but he picked 
up many prisoners from among the wounded and the lagging 
stragglers. 

The prime causes which led to this disgraceful defeat are to 
be sought in the many delays attending the commencement 
and execution of the movement, in consequence of which our 
forces had to contend with the combined forces of Beauregard 
and Johnston. 



AN EXPERIMENT. 35 

The panic which followed the defeat must be traced to 
internal defects ; to the utter absence of coherence or cohesion 
in the masses of mihtia ; to the want of confidence of men in 
iheir ofiicers, of officers in themselves and in their men ; to the 
sudden apparition of a new and undefined terror in place of the 
confidently expected triumph. The mass easily became a jum- 
bled crowd of individuals, because it had never been an army. 

As to the general plan of campaign, it was certainly a fatal 
mistake that our army clung to the banks of the Potomac a 
long month after it should boldly have seized upon Centre ville 
and Manassas ; and equally so, that a force of nearly eighty 
thousand should have been wasted by breaking it up into 
three fractions, destined to stand still on exterior lines, watch- 
ing the enemy concentrate on the key-point. 

But the mortifying and humihating disaster was necessary, 
by crushing the shell at once, to show us in a moment our 
weakness and utter want of sohdity. Disguised until the 
rebellion had developed and established its strength, the dis- 
ease would have been incurable. Laid bare at a stroke, the 
reaction set in at once, and the hfe of the nation was saved. 

Trust in every thing and everybody around the capital was 
for the moment destroyed. Major-General George B. Mc- 
Clellan, who had been successful in his operations in Western 
Virginia, an accompHshed officer, well known in the army, and 
possessing the confidence of the heutenant-general, was at 
once summoned to Washington, and assigned to the command 
of all the troops for its defence. At the end of July, he found 
a few scattered regiments cowering upon the banks of the 
Potomac. The militia went home. The North rose. Four 
months later, the Army of the Potomac counted two himdred 
thousand soldiers ready for their work. 

The sharpness with which Colonel Sherman criticised the 
conduct of some of the officers and men of his brigade at Bull 
Eim, both in his official report and in his free conversations, 
made him many enemies ; but the vigor he had displayed on 
the field, added to the influence of his brother, the Honorable 
John Sherman, led the Ohio delegation in CongTess to recom- 



36 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

mend liis promotion. He was commissioned as a Brigadier- 
General of Volunteers on the 3d of August, 1861, to date back 
to the 17th of May, as was the custom at that time. For a 
short time after this he had command of a brigade in the Army 
of the Potomac, but early in September, upon the organization 
of the Department of Kentucky, he was transferred to that 
theatre of operations, and ordered to report, as second in 
command, to Brigadier-General Eobert Anderson, who waa 
placed at the head of the department. 



THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY. 37 



CHAPTEE m. 

THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY. 

The legerdemain by wliicli tlie extreme Southern States were 
juggled out of the Union to feed the ambition of their leaders, 
had proved eminently successful. A Confederate dictionary 
had been made, in which slavery was called " the South ;" re- 
bellion, " secession ;" the execution of the laws, " coercion ;" 
and the desires of the conspirators, "the Constitution." A 
Confederate logic had been constructed, in which a system of 
postulates was substituted for the old-fashioned syllogism, and 
every thing taken for granted which it was impossible to prove. 
Only let it be granted that where thhteen or more parties have 
entered into an agreement with each other, any one of them 
can rightfully withdraw from the arrangement whenever he 
chooses, without the consent of the others, and you can prove 
any thing. A man whose mind is so organized that he can 
beheve that, can believe any thing. And the Southern people 
were carefully taught to believe it. 

It followed, of course, that while those States which chose 
to " secede" could not rightfully be " coerced" to remain in the 
Union, those States which chose to stay must be forced to 
secede. 

Unexpectedly, Kentucky chose to stay. Then the inventors 
of the Confederate dictionary and the Confederate logic put 
their heads together and hatched a new lie. They called it 
NeutraUty. 

It meant that Kentucky was to be neutral until the rebellion 
should become strong enough to swallow her at a mouthful. 
She was to arm herself to resist invasion from the South or 



38 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

from the North. The governor, Beriah Magoffin, a secessionist, 
organized the State mihtia in the interest of his faction, and 
issued a proclamation declaring that Kentucky would remain 
neutral. A few prominent gentlemen, still retaining an at- 
tachment for the Union, suffered themselves to be lulled to 
rest by the tranquil sound of the new word. Their names had 
great weight at Washington. The unconditional Union men 
were few in numbers and weak in influence. The Govern- 
ment could not make up its mind what to do. The secessionists 
prepared for war. 

Governor Magoffin called a special meeting of the Legisla- 
ture, and urged that body to assemble a State Convention to 
consider the crisis. The Legislature met on the 28th of April. 
Two days afterwards the governor issued a proclamation de- 
claring in effect that Kentucky would assume a position of 
belligerent neutrality, and would defend herself against in- 
vasion from any quarter. On the 22d of May, the Legislature 
resolved that the governor's proclamation of neutrahty was not 
a true exponent of the views of the people. The State Mihtia 
law was so amended as to require the State Guard to take the 
oath of allegiance to the United States. On the 24th of May, 
the last day of the session, the Senate passed resolutions de- 
claring that " Kentucky will not sever connection from the 
National Government, nor take up arms for either belligerent 
party, but arm herself for the preservation of peace within 
her borders, and tender their services as mediators to effect a 
just and honorable peace." The resolutions were lost in the 
House by a vote of forty-nine to forty-three. The secession- 
ists began to be seriously alarmed. Their fears were not 
diminished when the result of the election for members of Con- 
gress, held on the 1st of July, showed a majority for the Union 
candidates of more than fifty-five thousand. 

The Legislature met again on the 3d of September, In the 
mean time, the Government had authorized Lovell H. Rousseau 
to raise a brigade in Kentucky for the United States service, 
and the Confederate troops, under Polk, had just invaded the 
State and occupied Hickman and Chalk Bluffs. General Grant, 



THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY. 39 

who had been watcliing the progress of affairs, immediately 
took the responsibility of occupying Paducah. The seces- 
sionists, headed by the governor, loudly demanded that both 
belligerents should withdraw their forces. They hoped to 
frighten the Government of the United States into compliance, 
while the rebel authorities, being under no obHgation to hsten 
to them, should absorb the State. On the 11th, the Legisla- 
ture, by a vote of 71 to 26, requested the Governor to order 
the Confederate troops to evacuate the State. A series of 
test resolves was at once introduced, declaring that the neu- 
trahty of Kentucky and the rights of her people had been in- 
vaded by the so-called Southern Confederate forces, requesting 
the governor to call out the military force of the State to expel 
the invaders, and invoking the assistance of the United States 
to that end. In the Assembly, the vote stood sixty-eight to 
twenty-six. On the 13th, the governor vetoed the resolutions. 
The Legislature promptly repassed them over his veto, by 
more than a two-thirds vote. 

The Confederate tactics changed at once. The men who 
had declared they must go with their State found they were 
under no obligation to stay with their State. The men who 
had protested that it was a crime to coerce a State to remain 
in the Union, discovered that it was their sacred duty to coerce 
Kentucky to leave the Union. Buckner and Breckinridge fled, 
and at once took commands as general officers in the Con- 
federate service. They were followed by their fellow-conspira- 
tors, and by all whom their arguments or promises had se- 
duced. 

On the 17th of September, Buckner seized a railway-train, 
and moved from Bowling Green upon Louisville. An accident 
to the train delayed him within forty miles of the city, and by 
the time he was ready to move again, Eousseau's brigade and 
a battaUon of Home-guards was ready to oppose him ; so he 
abandoned the attempt. 

Li compliance with the call of the Legislature, and by order 
of the President, Brigadier-General Robert Anderson assumed 
command of the Military Department of Kentucky on the 21bt 



40 shermaj:^ and his campaigns. 

September, and immediately made preparations for organizing 
the full quota of troops which the State had been called upon 
to furnish for the national service. The invasion of the State 
by the Confederate troops had torn the mask from the designs 
of the secessionists, and it was no longer possible to favor 
them openly. A strong pressure was, however, still exerted, 
in more or less secrecy, to keej) men out of the Union army, to 
encourage their enhstment in the Confederate army, and to 
obstruct the operations of the Union authorities. The young 
men had nearly all been seduced into the rebel service, at first 
by the cry that they must fight for their State, and next by 
the cry that they must fight for slavery, under the name of 
" the South," against theb State. Eecruiting for the Union 
army went on very slowly, and meanwliUe, at Bowling Green 
and Nashville, Polk and Zollicoffer were gathering large bodies 
of rebel troops to invade and hold Kentucky. 

Brigadier-General Anderson, finding his health, ah'eady deli- 
cate, unequal to the demands made upon his strength by the 
cares and responsibilities of his position under these trying 
circumstances, asked the War Department to reheve him from 
command. His request was comphed with, and on the 7th of 
October he was reheved by Brigadier-General Sherman, then 
in command of a brigade at Lexington. 

General Sherman at once set to work with great energy to 
organize his department, and prepare the troops for the task 
before them. 

The quota of volunteers which Kentucky was called upon 
to raise was forty thousand, and with these General Sherman 
was expected by the "War Department to defend the State and 
drive the enemy fi'om her soil. They were raised very slowly, 
and but few reinforcements came fi-om any quarter. At the 
close of October, Sherman had succeeded in collecting and or- 
ganizing a force of nine thousand men at Lexington, and ten 
thousand in front of Louisville. The enemy had at the same 
time about fifteen thousand at Bowhng Green, under Buckner, 
and a strong force at Cumberland Gap, under ZoUicoffer. 
Bowling Green is the key to the mOitary possession of Cen- 



THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY. 41 

tral Kentucky, and Cumberland Gap to tliat of Eastern 
Kentucky. 

General McClellan, who succeeded to tlie chief command of 
the army on the 1st of November, immediately adopted a 
general plan of campaign, in which the operations in the De- 
partment of the Cumberland were subordinate to and formed 
a co-operative part of those of the principal army on the Po- 
tomac ; but the people, the press, and the Administration had 
become impatient of the general inactivity of our forces, and 
were clamoring for their advance. On the 16th of October, 
the^Secretary of War, Mr. Cameron, accompanied by Briga- 
dier-General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army, 
visited General Sherman at Louisville, for the purpose of as- 
certaining, in a personal interview, the precise condition and 
prospect of affairs in this quarter. Sherman shared the objec- 
tions entertained by Lieutenant-General Scott, and now by 
Major-General McClellan, to what the former termed " a little 
war," and beheved, with them, with all the ardor of his tem- 
perament, in the necessity of concentrated and decisive move- 
ments by armies large enough not merely to undertake a suc- 
cessful advance, but to finish the war. He did not, however, 
as General McClellan seems to have done, overlook the im- 
portance of schooling his troops by minor operations, and 
keeping up their spirits by minor successes ; but he looked 
further ahead than was agreeable in a subordinate commander. 
Short views, generally the happiest, are often the wisest ; but 
it is not always possible for a man of powerful nervous organ- 
ization, and strong perceptions of cause and effect, to take 
short views. He frequently sees the future too clearly to con- 
template the present with calmness. So it was now with Sher- 
man. 

The secretary of war asked him how many troops he would 
require in his department. Sherman rephed, " Sixty thousand 
to drive the enemy out of Kentucky ; two hundred thousand 
to finish the war in this section." Convinced of the inutihty 
of advancing against the enemy until our strength would ren- 
der success decisive as well as reasonably certain, while defeat 



42 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

would not be irreparable, and aware of the ease witli which 
the enemy, driven out of Kentucky, could concentrate and 
recuperate in Tennessee, and calling to his aid the vast re- 
serves then at his command, would finally compel us hastily to 
summon to the field at the eleventh hour, and concentrate ujDon 
an advanced and exposed position, a much larger force than 
would have been required in the first instance ; perceiving these 
things clearly and sharply, he could not sympathize with, or 
even comprehend the spirit of his superiors, who were all foi 
present success, and for trusting to-morrow entirely to the fu- 
ture. On the other hand, the secretary of war and the adjutant- 
general could not understand Sherman, nor see the utihty of a 
delay which they regarded as merely temporizing. Looking 
only at the force of the enemy then actually in arms in Sher- 
man's immediate front, they considered that he vastly over- 
estimated the obstacles with which he would have to contend. 
Calculations of difficulties generally seem to earnest men, not 
thoroughly famihar with the subject-matter, to spring from 
timidity or want of zeal. In a few days the report of the 
adjutant-general, embracing full particulars of the condi- 
tion of all the Western armies, as shown by this inspection, 
was given to the pubhc in all the newspapers. In referring to 
General Sherman, General Thomas simply stated that he had 
said he would reqmre two hundred thousand men. Great ex- 
citement and indignation was occasioned in the popular mind 
by this announcement. A writer for one of the newspapers 
declared that Sherman was crazy. Insanity is hard to prove ; 
harder still to disprove, especially when the suspicion rests 
upon a difference of opinion ; and then the infirmities of great 
minds are always fascinating to common minds. The public 
seized with avidity upon the anonymous insinuation, and ac- 
cepted it as an estabHshed conclusion. 

On the 12th of November, Brigadier-General Don Carlos 
Buell was ordered by Major-General McClellan to reheve 
Brigadier-General Sherman from the command of the Depart- 
ment of the Cumberland ; and the latter was ordered to report 
to Major-General Halleck, commanding the Department of the 



THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY. 43 

West. General Biiell was at once strongly reinforced, so as 
to enable him to take the offensive during the latter part of 
winter. 

These events embody the same useful lesson of tolerance 
for the conflicting opinions of others that has been pointedly 
taught us again and again during this war. At this distance 
of time, Sherman's views seem scarcely so extraordinary as 
they did to the pubhc in 1861. Many more than two hundred 
thousand men have been required to hold permanently Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee ; for, indeed, here as elsewhere, we have 
had to contend not alone against the force which the enemy 
has actually had in the field at any given time, but against 
that force augmented by the whole able-bodied male popula- 
tion behind it. 

Fortunately, indeed, under a powerful nervous organization, 
in spite of the workings of a myriad of irritable fibres, there 
lay at the bottom the germs of a patience that was to render 
the genius of Sherman still useful to the republic. 

Although thus suffering in the popular estimation and in 
the confidence of the War Department, General Sherman did 
not altogether lose the hold he had so long maintained upon 
the respect of his brother officers. The general-in-chief 
thought he might still be useful in a subordinate capacity, 
although he had failed to give satisfaction in command of an 
important department. Major-General Halleck, to whom he 
now reported, considered him competent to the charge of 
the rendezvous for volunteers at the Benton Barracks, near 
St. Louis, and assigned him to that duty. With the monot- 
onous and endless details of such a camp, Sherman was 
occupied during the winter of 1861. 

General Halleck's command was the largest in extent of any 
of the departments, as organized at the time, and was considered 
by the general-in-chief as only inferior in importance to that 
of the Potomac, to which his personal attention was given. 
It embraced two distinct theatres of operations, extending from 
the line of the Cumberland Eiver westward towards Kansas, 
and divided by the Mississippi Eiver. Of these, the chief in 



44 SHERMAJSr AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

importance was east of tlie Mississippi. The enemy held 
Columbus on the Mississippi, Forts Henry and Donelson 
on the Tennessee, and Bowling Green in the adjoining De- 
partment of the Cumberland. These positions gave him the 
control of "Western and Central Kentucky, and each of them was 
strongly fortified and occupied in large force. Major-Gen- 
eral Leonidas Polk commanded at Columbus, Brigadier-Gen- 
eral John B. Floyd at Fort Donelson, and Brigadier-General 
Simon B. Buckner at Bowling Green. The Cumberland was 
the dividing line between the Department of the Ohio, com- 
manded by General Buell, and the Department of the West. 
It was determined to endeavor to break through the centre 
of the enemy's long line by ascending the Cumberland and 
Tennessee rivers, aided by a flotilla of gunboats which had 
been prepared at Cairo and at St. Louis, under the command 
of Captain A. H. Foote, of the na\y. To Brigadier-General 
Ulysses S. Grant, then commanding at Paducah, was assigned 
the cliief direction of the movement. Yery Httle was known 
of this officer. He had graduated at West Point in 1843, 
had served in the Fourth Infantry until 1854, when having 
risen to the grade of captain, he resigned his commission 
and settled in private life, in Illinois, as a surveyor. On the 
breaking out of the war, having offered his services to Gover- 
nor Yates ia any capacity in which he could be useful, he was 
for some time engaged in assisting the adjutant-general of the 
State in organizing the three months' volunteers. On the organ- 
ization of the tliree years' troops, he accepted the colonelcy of 
the Sixty-Third lUinois regiment, and exhibited such marked 
efficiency in its instruction and discipline, that he was soon 
commissioned as a brigadier-general of volunteers. He had 
commanded the brigade engaged in the demonstration against 
Belmont, Missouri, on the 7th of November, 1861. 

Suddenly the gloom of that dark winter, during which our 
large armies slept, our smaU forces encountered defeat, 
and the signs of anarchy gathered ominously from every 
quarter, was broken by a victory. Fort Henry was taken by 
Brigadier-General Grant on the 6th February, 1862. Or- 



THE SECESSION JUGGLE IN KENTUCKY, 45 

the 16tli of the same montli, Fort Donelson surrendered tui- 
conditionallj to the same officer, wdth a garrison of about 
twelve thousand men. In answer to the request of the rebel 
commander Buckner, for a parley and more favorable terms, 
Grant repKed that he could consent to no terms but those of 
unconditional surrender, and tersely added, "I propose to 
move immediately upon your works." A shout of joy rang 
throughout the land. Grant was made a major-general with- 
out an hour's delay. In a fervid letter to the New York 
Tribune, the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, vented his en- 
thusiasm in raptures over the unconditional surrender, and 
cited with admiration the proposal to move immediately upon 
the enemy's works. Grant was the hero of the hour. 

By the President's War Order, No. 3, dated March 11, 1862, 
reHeving Major-General McClellan from the chief command 
of the army, Major-General Halleck was assigned to the com- 
mand of the Department of the Mississippi, embracing all the 
troops west of a line drawn indefinitely north and south 
through KnoxviUe, Tennessee, and east of the western bound- 
aries of Missouri and Arkansas. Major-General Grant was 
shortly afterwards assigned by General Halleck to the com- 
mand of the army in the field, operating on the Hne of the 
Tennessee Eiver. 

When Grant moved upon Fort Donelson, Sherman was or- 
dered to Paducah, to take charge of the duty of forwarding 
suppUes and reinforcements from that point. He set to work 
with a characteristic energy that must have found room enough 
to expand itself, for troops were hard to move in those days, 
and supphes, owing to the greenness of some and the rusti- 
ness of other officers of the quartermaster's department, 
harder still. General Grant took occasion to acknowledge the 
great importance of the services thus rendered. 

The Army of the Tennessee, after some changes, was 
finally organized in six divisions, of which Major-General John 
A. McClernand commanded the first ; Major-General Charles 
F. Smith, the second ; Brigadier-General Lewis Wallace, the 
third ; Brigadier-General Stephen A. Hurlbut, the fourth ; 



46 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Brigadier-General William T. Sherman, tlie fifth ; and Briga- 
dier-General B. M. Prentiss, the sixth. The fifth division was 
composed almost entirely of the rawest troops, hastily gathered 
together and thrown into brigades, none of whom had ever 
been under fire, or, indeed, under discipline. Sherman took 
command of his division at Paducah early in March. 

During all this time the pubhc heard nothing of Sherman. 
The press said nothing against him ; it had ostracised and 
then forgotten him. He was under a cloud still, but it was 
about to lift for a brief period. 



SHILOH. 47 



CHAPTER ly. 

SHILOH. 

The enemy's forces under General A. S. Jolinston, consisting 
of tlie corps of Polk, Bragg, and Hardee, of two divisions 
each, and the reserve division of Brigadier-General Breckin- 
ridge, having successively evacuated Columbus and Nashville, 
and abandoned Tennessee and Kentucky, with the excejDtion 
of Mempliis and Cumberland Gap, had concentrated at Cor- 
inth, in Mississippi, and were there awaiting the develoj^ment 
of our plans, ready to act according to circumstances, on the 
offensive or defensive, and to take advantage of any error we 
might make. The position was weU chosen for observing our 
movements, for covering the hne of the Mississippi, or for 
menacing the flank and rear of an army invading Mississij)pi 
and Alabama. 

General Halleck decided to advance up the Tennessee Biver 
as far as practicable by water ; then to debark on the west 
bank, attack the enemy at Corinth, and endeavor to cut him 
off from the East, and compel his surrender either at Corinth 
or on the banks of the Mississippi. Grant was ordered to 
move up the Tennessee, and Buell to march fi-om Nashville 
and join him near Savannah, Tennessee. 

On the 14th of March, Sherman, with the leading division 
of Grant's army, passed up the Tennessee on transports, and 
after making a feint of landing at Eastport, dropped dovm the 
stream and disembarked at Pittsburgh Landing. It was Sher- 
man's intention to march from tliis point seven miles in the 
direction of luka, and then halting his infantry, to dispatch 
the cavalry to the nearest point on the Memphis and Charles- 



48 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

ton railway. Tlie attempt was made, but tlie enemy was en- 
countered in greater force than had been expected, and it did 
not succeed. In the mean while, Major-General Charles F. 
Smith, who had command of the advance, having landed his 
own second division at Savannah, had selected Pittsburgh 
Landing as the most favorable position for the encampment 
of the main body of the army, and under his instructions 
Sherman and Hurlbut, who, with the fourth division, had 
closely followed him, went into camp there. In the course of 
a few days they were joined by the first and sixth di\isions of 
McClernand and Prentiss, and by Smith's own division from 
Savannah ; and Major-General Grant himself arrived and took 
command in person. During the last week of March, the 
Army of the Tennessee only waited for the Army of the 
Ohio. General Buell had informed General Grant that he 
would join him before that time ; but he had encountered 
great delays, and on the morning of the sixth of April the 
Army of the Ohio had not yet come. It was hourly expected. 
Instructions had been sent by General Grant to expedite its 
advance, and to push on to Pittsburgh. The importance of 
the crisis was apparent, for Johnston would naturally seek to 
strike Grant before Buell's arrival ; but Buell marched his 
troops with the same dehberation as if no other army depended 
upon his promptness. By express orders he even caused in- 
tervals of six miles to be observed between his divisions on 
the march, thus lengthening out his column to a distance of 
over thirty miles. 

Pittsburgh is not a village, but simply a steamboat landing, 
containing a log hut or two, and is situated in a deep ravine, 
down which the Corinth road leads to the Tennessee Biver. 
The distance to Corinth is twenty miles. The ground in front 
of Pittsburgh is an undulating table-land, about a hundred 
feet above the road bottom, lying between two small tribu- 
taries of the Tennessee, Lick Creek on the south, and Snake 
Creek on the north, and having a front of about three miles 
between the two streams. Owl Creek rises near the source of 
Lick Creek, and flowing northeasterly, empties into Snake 



SHILOH. 49 

Creek. Towards tlie river the bank is broken into abrupt 
ravines, and rises gradually to a range of low hills, which 
form the steep north banks of Lick Creek. The country is 
covered with a heavy forest, easily passable for troops, except 
where the dense undergrowth now and then constitutes an 
obstruction, and is sparsely broken by a few small cleared 
farms of about eighty acres each. The soil is a tenacious 
clay. About two miles from the landing the road to Corinth 
forks into two branches, forming the Lower Corinth road and 
the Kidge Corinth road ; and another road leads off, still fur- 
ther to the left, across Lick Creek to Hamburgh, a few miles 
up the Tennessee Kiver. On the right, two roads lead almost 
due west to Purdy, and another in a northerly direction across 
Snake Creek, down the river to Crump's Landing, six miles 
below. Innumerable smaller roads intersect these. 

On the front of this position, facing to the south and south- 
west, five divisions of the Army of the Tennessee were encamped 
on the morning of the 6th of April. On the extreme left lay 
Stuart's brigade of Sherman's division, on the Hambui^gh 
road, behind the abrupt bank of Lick Creek. Prentiss's small 
division, facing to the south, carried the hne across a branch 
of the main Corinth road, nearly to Sherman's left. Sherman 
facing to the south, with his right thrown back towards the 
landing, extended the front to the Purdy road, near Owl Creek. 
This advanced line w^as about two miles from the landing. 
Near the river, about a mile in rear of Prentiss and Stuart, 
Hurlbut's di-vdsion was encamped ; McClernand's was posted 
to the left and rear of Sherman, covering the mterval between 
him and Prentiss ; and C. F. Smith's division, commanded 
during his severe illness at Savannah by Brigadier-General 
W. H. L. Wallace, was on the right of Hurlbut. Lewis Wal- 
lace's division was six miles distant, at Crump's Landing. 
Our whole force in front of Pittsburgh was about thirty thou- 
sand men. 

On Friday, the 4th of April, the enemy's cavalry had made a 
demonstration upon the picket line, drove it in on Sherman's 
centre, and captured a lieutenant and seven men. They were 

4 



50 SHERMAN AOT) HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

driven back by tlie cavalry of Slierman's di"sasion, and pursued 
for a distance of about five miles, with considerable loss. The 
next day the enemy's cavalry had again showed itself in our 
front, but there was nothing to indicate a general attack unto 
seven o'clock on Sunday morning, when the advance guard on 
Sherman's front was forced in upon liis maiu line. Sherman 
at once got his men under arms, sent a request to General 
McClernand to support his left, and informed Generals Pren- 
tiss and Hurlbut that the enemy was before him in force. Sher- 
man's division was posted as follows : The first brigade, under 
Colonel J. A. McDowell, consisting of his own regiment, the 
6th Iowa; 4:0th Illinois, Colonel Hicks; 46tli Ohio, Colonel 
Worthington, and Captain Behr's " Morton" Battery held the 
right, guarding the bridge over Owl Creek, on the Purdy road. 
The fourth brigade, commanded by Colonel Buckland of the 
72d Ohio, and including that regiment ; the 48th Ohio, Colo- 
nel Sullivan, and the 70th Ohio, Colonel CockeriU, continued 
the Hue, its left resting on Shiloli meeting-house. The third 
brigade, commanded by Colonel HUdebrand of the 77th Oliio, 
was composed of that regiment, the 53d Ohio, Colonel Ap- 
pier, and the 57tli Ohio, Colonel Mungen, and was posted 
to the left of the Corinth road, its right resting on Shiloh 
meeting-house. Taylor's battery of hght artillery was in 
position at the meeting-house, and Waterhouse's on a ridge 
to the left commanding the open ground between Appier's 
and Mungen's regiments. Eight companies of the 4th Illinois 
cavaby. Colonel Dickey, were placed in a large 023en field in 
rear of the centre of the division. Stuart's second brigade 
was, as we have seen, detached, and on the extreme left of 
the army. 

The enemy formed under cover of the brush that lines the 
Owl Creek bottom, and at eight o'clock opened fire from his 
artillery, and moved forward his infantry across the open 
ground and up the slope that separated him from our hues. 
It now became eyideat that a general and determined attack 
was intended. Under cover of the advance on Sherman's 
front, the enemy was seen moving heavy masses to the left to 



SHILOH. 51 

attack Prentiss. About nine, tlie firing told that Prentiss "was 
giving gi-oimd, and presently Colonel Appier's Fiftj-tMrd 
Oliio and Colonel Mnngen's Pifty-seventli Ohio regiments 
broke in disorder, exposing Waterhouse's battery. A brigade 
of McClernand's division, which had been promptly moved 
forward by General McClernand to the support of Sherman's 
left, formed the immediate supports of this battery ; but the 
enemy advanced with such vigor, and kept up so severe a fire, 
that the three regiments composing it were soon also in dis- 
order, and the battery was lost. McDowell's and Buckland's 
brigades, and the remaining regiment of Hildebrand's brigade, 
maintained the position at Shiloh for an hour longer ; but ten 
o'clock found the enemy pressing heavily upon Sherman's 
fi'ont, their artillery supported by infantry entirely in rear of 
the left flank of the division, and Hildebrand's owti regiment 
broken up also ; so that it was found necessary to change 
position at once, and Sherman accordingly gave orders 
to retire his line to the Purdy and Hamburgh road, near 
McClernand's first position, and there continue the defence. 
Taylor's battery was sent to the rear at once to take up 
the new position, and hold the enemy in check while the 
movement was in progress. Riding across the angle. General 
Sherman met, at the intersection of this road with the 
Corinth road, Captain Behr's battery, attached to Colonel 
McDowell's brigade, and ordeied it to come into battery. 
The captain had hardly given the order to his men, when 
he was struck by a musket-ball and feU from his horse. 
Dismayed, the drivers and gunners incontinently fled without 
firing a single shot, carrying with them the caissons and one 
gun, and abandoning the other six to the enemy, who was 
vigorously pressing forward. General Sherman being thus 
reduced to the necessity of again choosing a new line, and of 
abandoning the attempt to maintain his old one, promptly moved 
the coherent remainder of his division, consisting of Colonel 
McDowell's and Colonel Buckland's brigades. Captain Tay- 
lor's battery, and three guns of Captain Waterhouse's battery, 
to the support of General McClernand's right, which was just 



52 SHERMAN AND fflS CAMPAIGNS. 

then seriously menaced. At half-past ten the enemy made a 
furious attack on the whole front of McClernand's division, 
and for some time pressed it hard ; but the opportune move- 
ment of Colonel McDowell's brigade directly against his left 
flank, forced him back, and reheved the pressure. Taking 
advantage of the cover which the trees and felled timber 
afforded, and of a wooded ravine on the right, Sherman held 
this position for four hours, stubbornly contesting it with the 
enemy, who continued to make the most determined efforts to 
drive us back upon the river. General Grant visited this part 
of the lines about three in the afternoon, conversed with Mc- 
Clernand and Sherman, and informed them of the condition 
of affairs on the other parts of the field, where our resistance 
had been less successful. An hour later it became evident to 
both the division commanders, from the sounds heard in that 
direction, that Hurlbut had fallen back towards the river ; and 
having been informed by General Grant that General Lewis 
"Wallace was on his way from Crump's Landing with his entire 
division, they agreed upon a new line of defence, covering the 
bridge over Snake Creek, by which these reinforcements were ' 
expected to approach. The reth*ement to the position so 
selected was made dehberately, and in as good order as could 
have been expected. Many stragglers and fragments of troops 
were encountered during the movement, and united with the 
two divisions. The enemy's cavahy attempting a charge was 
handsomely repulsed. The Fifth Ohio cavalry arriving upon 
the ground, held the enemy in check for some time, until 
Major Ezra Taylor, cliief of artillery of Sherman's division, 
came up with Schwartz's battery of McClernand's division, 
and opened an effective fire upon the enemy's flank as he 
pressed forward against McClernand's right. McClernand 
having now deployed his division on its new line, ordered a 
charge, which was handsomely executed, dri^dng the enemy 
from his front, and forcing them to seek cover in the ravines 
in advance of our right. It was now five o'clock. The new 
line had been weU selected, and afforded us a decided advan- 
tage, the gi'ound along its fi'ont being open for a distance of 



SHILOH. 53 

about two hundred yards. The enemy's momentum was spent, 
and he did not afterwards attempt to cross this oj^en space. 

On the left the day had scarcely gone so well. The weight 
of the enemy's attack was chiefly directed against this vdng. 
The two brigades of Prentiss gave way early in the morning, 
and drifted to the rear as Hui-lbut advanced to their support, 
and by ten o'clock the division had melted away. Hurlbut 
made a gallant fight, obstinately contesting the ground with 
varying success, until four o'clock in the afternoon, when his 
division also was pressed to the rear, and the whole line com- 
pelled to retire. Smith's division, under the command of 
Brigadier-General W. H. L. Wallace, had been moved upon 
Hurlbut' s right, and had materially aided in holding our 
gTOund there, but had in its turn been forced back. Colonel 
Stuart's brigade held the extreme left until the pressure of 
the enemy on its front, and the exposure of its flank by the 
disaster to Prentiss, forced it successively to take up new lines 
of defence on the ridges which broke the ground towards the 
river. Our troops held this last line firmly. It was now after 
six o'clock in the afternoon. The battle had lasted nearly 
twelve hours. Our troops had been driven from all their camps 
of the morning, except Wallace's, to the line of woods in the 
rear, had been dislodged from that position, and again pressed 
back, and now held a line perpendicular to the river, with its 
left resting on the bluff behind which the landing was situated, 
and only haK a mile fi"om it. The enemy gathered up his 
forces, and made a last desperate effort to gain this position. 
But his losses had been very heavy, his troops were much 
shaken by the hard fighting they had encountered, and the 
spirit which characterized their first onset in the morning had 
burned out. Cheatham's division and Gladden's brigade, 
which now held the extreme right of the Confederate hne on 
the river, lay directly under the fire of our artillery. They 
attempted to take it, but were repulsed in great disorder. 

A galling fire of artillery and musketry was poured into them ; 
and the gunboats " Lexington" and " Tyler" swept the flanks 
with their nine-inch shell. Their troops were re-formed with 



54 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

difficulty. Night was closing in. General Beauregard gave 
the orders to retire out of range, and the battle was over. 

Darkness fell upon the disordered and confused remnants 
of two large armies. In each the losses had been very heavy, 
the stragghng fearful, and the confusion almost inextricable. 
But the enemy had failed. He had attempted to force us back 
upon the river and compel our surrender, and had not done 
so. In the morning we would attack him and seek to drive 
him from the field. General Grant had given verbal orders 
to that effect to General Sherman about 3 p. m., before the 
last repulse of the enemy. 

General Albert Sidney Johnston, the Confederate com- 
mander-in-chief, was mortally wounded in front of Sherman's 
division, and died shortly afterwards at half-past two o'clock. 
Two regiments of Nelson's division, of the Army of the Ohio, 
crossed the river, and arrived upon the extreme left of the 
field about six o'clock, in time to fire a few shots just before 
the final repulse. As Nelson's troops came up, they met an 
appalling sight. A crowd of from seven to ten thousand 
panic-stricken wretches thronged the lauding, crouching be- 
hind trees and under the bluff to avoid the enemy's shell, 
which had begun to drop in among them, and giving vent to 
the most sickening cries that we were whipped, and cut to 
pieces, and imploring their newly-arrived comrades to share 
their shame. But the gallant men of Nelson's division were 
unmoved by the scene, and greeted the loathsome pack with 
jeers and sarcasm. It is perhaps natural enough that those 
who saw only the stragglers should have found it hard to be- 
lieve that any one had fought. Yet the greater portion of 
the Army of the Tennessee had stood to their arms, and had 
repulsed the enemy. 

The troops slept that night in good spirits, although about 
midnight they were drenched by the heavy rain which began 
to fall. They knew that the enemy had failed, that Lewis 
Wallace would be up during the night, that Buell was arriv- 
ing, and that in the morning these fresh battalions would be 
hurled against the shaken and broken foe. The " Lexington" 



SHILOH. * 55 

dropped a shell into tlie enemy's lines every ten minutes, until 
.1 A.M., wlien the "Tyler" took her turn at the same task, 
firing every quarter of an hour tUl dayhght. The demorahz- 
Liig shriek of the navy shells, while it robbed the enemy of rest, 
was inspirmg music to the ears of our wearied troops. Dur- 
ing the night the remainder of Nelson's division crossed the 
river, and took position in the left front ; and later came Crit- 
tenden's division, followed by McCook's, successively extending 
the line to the right and connecting with Hurlbut's left. 
Lewis Wallace arrived about 1 a. m., and came into position 
on Sherman's right. 

Daybreak of the 7th found the enemy out of sight in our 
fi-ont. He showed no signs of advancing. Beauregard did 
not know that Buell had come, and yet he did not attack. 
As soon as it was faii'ly light, the division commanders re- 
ceived the orders promised by General Grant at the close of 
the previous day's battle, to move upon the enemy and drive him 
fi'om our fi"ont. By six o'clock our artillery opened fire on the 
left. About seven, Nelson, Crittenden, and McCook pushed 
forward, and by ten were warmly engaged with the enemy in a 
contest for the possession of the old camps. Hurlbut, Mc- 
Clernaud, Sherman, and Wallace now moved steadily forward. 
The open fields in fi-ont of the log church of ShUoh were 
reached. The enemy's position here was a strong one, and 
he contested it obstinately. For more than three hours he 
held his ground in the scrub-oak thicket. But by one o'clock 
his weakness had become apparent. He was yielding every- 
where, and giving palpable signs of exhaustion. General 
Beauregard gave orders to withdraw fi'om the contest. About 
2 p. M. his right retired, and two hours later his left followed. 
The movement was made in tolerable order. Near the junc- 
tion of the Hamburgh and Pittsburgh road with the Ham- 
burgh and Corinth road, his rear-guard under Breckinridge 
made a stand ; and the next day his retreat was continued to 
Corinth. On the 8th, Sherman, with two brigades, followed 
Breckinridge to the point where he made his first stand. But 
our troops were worn out, disorganized, out of supphes, and 



56 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

in no condition to enter upon a campaign. Tliey returned to 
Pittsburgh to refit and reorganize. Sherman lost 318 killed, 
1,275 wounded, and 441 missing; total, 2,034. Brigadier- 
General W. H. L. Wallace was killed during the first day, and 
Brigadier-General B. M. Prentiss taken prisoner, and their 
divisions broken up and distributed. 

The enemy went into battle on the 6th with forty thousand 
three hundi'ed and fifty-five effective men. His losses, as 
stated by General Beauregard in his official report, were, in 
killed, 1,728; wounded, 8,012; missmg, 959; total, 10,699. 
General Beauregard says : " On Monday, from exliaustion and 
other causes, not twenty thousand men could be brought into 
action on our side." Ji we suppose two-thu'ds of the casual- 
ties to have occurred on Sunday, there should still have been 
over thirty-eight thousand men with the rebel colors on Mon- 
day ; and even imagining, for the sake of illustration, that all 
the losses took place on the first day, the enemy should have 
had nearly thu'ty-five thousand fighting men on the second. 
Yet that number was less than twenty thousand. Here are 
fi"om fifteen to eighteen thousand men to be accounted for, or 
about half of his remaining force. These are the stragglers. 

General Beauregard, in his official report, estimate the 
Union forces engaged on Sunday at forty-five thousand, the 
remnant of General Grant's forces on Monday morning at 
twenty thousand, and the reinforcements received during the 
preceding night, at thirty-three thousand, making fifty-three 
thousand arrayed against him on that day, or seventy-eight 
thousand on both days ; and he set down our aggregate losses 
at twenty thousand. 

The enemy's troops were comparatively old. Bragg's corps 
had been uuder fire at Pensacola ; Polk's, at Columbus; and 
Hardee's, at Mill Spring, in Kentucky. A considerable por- 
tion of them had been organized and drilled siace the summer 
of 1861, but there was also a large infusion of new regiments 
and new men, troops which had never been under fire, and 
militia just from the States. The commander-in-chief. Gen- 
eral Albert Sidney Johnston, was one of the ablest officers of 



SHILOH. 57 

the old regular army of the United States. General Beaure- 
gard, his second in command, had been known as a skilful 
officer of engineers, and by the exercise of his popular talents 
had suddenly achieved a reputation which his subsequent his- 
tory has faUed to sustain. Of Grant's army only two divisions 
had been under fire. Sherman's, Prentiss's, Hurlbut's, and 
Le^^is Wallace's were all new and raw. 

The Union soldiers showed that they could fight, and that 
they would. They proved themselves superior to defeat. 
General Sherman says in his official report : — 

" My division was made up of regiments perfectly new, all 
having received their muskets for the first time at Paducah. 
None of them had ever been under fire, or beheld heavy 
columns of an enemy bearing down on them, as this did on 
last Sunday. To expect of them the coolness and steadiness 
of older troops would be WTong. They knew not the value of 
combination and organization. '\Mien individual fear seized 
them, the first impidse was to get away. My third brigade 
did break much too soon, and I am not yet advised where 
they were Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. Colonel 
Hildebrand, its commander, was as cool as any man I ever 
saw, and no one could have made stronger efforts to hold his 
men to their j)laces than he did. He kept his own regiment, 
with uidi\'idual exceptions, in hand an hour after Appier's and 
Mungen's regiments had left their proper field of action. 
Colonel Buckland managed his brigade well. I commend 
him to your notice as a cool, intelUgent, and judicious gentle- 
man, needing only confidence and experience to make a good 
commander. His subordinates. Colonels SuUivan and Cocker- 
ill, behaved with great gallantry, the former receiving a severe 
wound on Sunday, and yet commanding and holding his regi- 
ment well in hand all day ; and on Monday until his right arm 
was broken by a shot, Cockerill held a larger proportion of his 
men than any colonel in my division, and was with me fi'om 
first to last. Colonel J. A. McDowell, commanding the first 
brigade, held his ground on Sunday till I ordered him to fall 
b ick, which he did in Hue of battle ; and when ordered, he con- 



58 SHERMAN AND HIS CAiJPAIGNS. 

ducted tlie attack on tlie enemy's left in good style. In falling 
back to tlie nest position he was tliroTVTi from liis horse and 
injured, and his brigade was not in position on Monday morn- 
ing. His subordinates, Colonels Hicks and Worthington, 
displayed great personal courage. Colonel Hicks led his regi- 
ment in the attack on Sunday, and received a wound which is 
feared may prove fatal. He is a brave and gallant gentleman, 
and deserves well of his country. Lieutenant-Colonel Walcutt, 
of the Ohio Forty-sixth, was severely wounded on Sunday, 
and has been disabled ever since. My second brigade. Colo- 
nel Stuart, was detached near two miles from my headquarters. 
He had to fight his own battle on Sunday against superior 
numbers, as the enemy interposed between him and General 
Prentiss early in the day. Colonel Stuart was wounded 
severely, and yet reported for duty on Monday morning, but 
was compelled to leave during the day, when the command 
devolved on Colonel T. Kilby Smith, who was always in the 
thickest of the fight, and led the brigade handsomely. . . . 
Lieutenant-Colonel Kyle, of the Seventy-first was mortally 
wounded on Sunday. . . . Several times during the battle 
cartridges gave out, but General Grant had thoughtfully kept 
a supply coming from the rear. When I appealed to regiments 
to stand fast although out of cartridges, I did so because to 
retKe a regiment for any cause has a bad effect on others. I 
commend the Fortieth Illinois and Thirteenth Missouri for 
thus holding their ground under heavy fire, although their 
cartridge-boxes were empty. Great credit is due the frag- 
ments of men of the disordered regiments, who kept in the 
advance. I observed and noticed them, but until the briga- 
diers and colonels make their reports, I cannot venture to name 
individuals, but will in due season notice all who kept in our 
front, as well as those who preferred to keep back near the 
steamboat landing." 

Sherman was everywhere ; encouraging his troops, rallying 
the stragglers, directing the batteries Avith his own hands, ad- 
vising with other commanders, superintending every movement 
in person. Those who still fancied him crazy did not, after 



SHILOH. 69 

tliis, deny Lis energy, coolness, courage, skill, and persever- 
ance upon the battle-field. This was his first battle, and yet 
so ingrained were the details of war upon his mind, that his 
spirit leaped at once above the novelty of the situation, and 
wore the new experience like an old habit. On Sunday, he was 
wounded by a bullet through the left hand, but bandaged it, 
and went on with his work. On Monday, he was again wounded, 
and had three horses shot under him, but mounted a fourth 
and stayed on the field. 

General Grant says, in his official report, otherwise suffi- 
ciently formal : " I feel it a duty to a gallant and able officer, 
Brigadier-General W. T. Sherman, to make special mention. 
He not only was with his command during the entire two days 
of the action, but displayed great judgment and skill in the 
management of his men. Although severely wounded in the 
hand on the first day, his place was never vacant." 

A few days later, Major-General Halleck, not given to un- 
mixed praise, having arrived upon the ground, went so far 
as to observe, " It is the unanimovis opinion here that Briga- 
dier-General W. T. Sherman saved the fortunes of the day on 
the 6th, and contributed largely to the glorious victory of 
the 7th. ... I respectfully recommend that he be made 
a major-general of volunteers, to date from the 6th instant." 

And on the 26th of July, 1863, in urging Sherman's pro- 
motion as a brigadier-general in the regular army. General 
Grant wrote to the "War Department : "At the battle of Shiloh, 
on the first day, he held, with raw troops, the key point of tho 
landing. It is no disparagement to any other officer to say, 
that I do not beheve there was another division commander 
on the field who had the skill and experience to have done it. 
To his individual efforts I am indebted for the success of that 
battle." 



60 SHEKMAN ANI> HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE V. 

COKINTH. 

Immediately after tlie battle of Sliiloli, Major-General Hal- 
leek left Saint Louis, proceeded to Pittsburgli Landing, and 
there took personal command of tlie forces, wliicli lie caused 
to be reinforced from other parts of his department. Major- 
General Pope was placed in command of the left wing, Major- 
General Buell of the centre, Major-General Thomas of the 
right wing, and Major-General McClernand of the reserve, 
while Major-General Grant was assigned, by General Halleck, 
to nominal duty as second in command. 

After his repulse at Shiloh, Beauregard concentrated his 
army at Corinth, and, strongly fortifying that position, and 
summoning to his aid all the available troops in the south- 
west, including the armies of Price and Van Dorn, from Mis- 
souri and Arkansas, as well as the militia of the States ol 
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, prepared for a determined 
defence. " Soldiers of Shiloh and Elkhorn !" he said to his 
troops, "we are about to meet once more in the shock of 
battle the invaders of our soil, the despoilers of our homes, 
the disturbers of our family ties, face to face, hand to hand. 
. . . "With your mingled banners, for the first time during 
this war, we shall meet the foe in strength that should give 
us victory. Soldiers, can the result be doubtful ? Shall wo 
not drive back into Tennessee the presumptuous mercenaries 
collected for our subjugation ? One more manly effort, and, 
trusting in God and the justness of our cause, we shall recover 
more than we have lately lost." 

Bragg, too, addressed his men in the same strain, telling 
them : " You will encounter him in your chosen position, strong 



CORINTH. 61 

bj nature and improved by art, away from liis main support 
and reliance — gunboats and heavy batteries — and for tlie first 
time in tliis war, with nearly equal numbers." 

Corinth, ninety-three miles west-southwest from Memphis, 
and twenty-nine miles from Pittsburgh, is the junction of the 
Mobile and Ohio and the Memphis and Charleston raHroads. 
These two great lines intersecting each other at right angles, 
connect the Mississippi with the Atlantic and the Ohio with 
the Gulf. 

On the 13th of May, having three thousand four hundred 
and ten absent, sick, and wounded, out of a total of five thou- 
sand four hundred and sixty men, Sherman found it necessary 
to consolidate his division into three brigades, as follows : First 
brigade, to be commanded by Brigadier-General Morgan L. 
Smith, Eighth Missouri, Fifty-fifth lUmois, Fifty-fourth Ohio, 
and Fifty-seventh Ohio ; second brigade. Colonel J. A. Mc- 
Dowell, Sixth Iowa, Forty-sixth Ohio, Fortieth Illinois, and 
Seventy-seventh Ohio ; third brigade, Colonel R. P. Buckland, 
Seventy-second Ohio, Seventieth Ohio, Forty-eighth Ohio, and 
Fifty-third Ohio. On the following day, however, Brigadier- 
General James W. Denver arrived, reported to General Sher- 
man for duty, and was assigned to the command of the third 
brigade. 

General Halleck advanced cautiously and by slow marches, 
intrenching at every step. On the afternoon of 17th of May, 
in conformity with instructions previously received by him 
fi'om the commander-in-chief. General Sherman made dispo- 
sitions to drive the enemy from his position at Kussell's house, 
on a hill situated about a mile and a quarter from the outer 
intrenchments of Corinth, and about two miles in advance of 
the main camps of our army. Kequesting General Hurlbnt 
to put in motion two regiments and a battery of artillery, at 
three o'clock p. m., on the road which passes the fi'ont of his 
line and runs to Kussell's house, Sherman ordered General 
Denver to take a right-hand road with two regiments of his 
brigade and one battery of hglit artillery, namely, the Seven- 
tieth and Seventy-feecond Ohio, and Barrett's battery, and 



62 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

gave liim a guide so to conduct his marcli as to ariive on the 
left of the enemy's position by the time he was engaged in 
front ; and ordered General Morgan L. Smith's brigade, with 
Bouton's battery, to follow the main road, drive back a brigade 
of the enemy's forces that held the position at Eussell's, with 
their skirmishers and pickets, down to the causeway and bridge 
across a small stream about eight hundred yards east of Eus- 
sell's house. 

All these forces were put in motion at three p. m., General 
Denver's forces taking the right-hand road, and General 
Smith's the direct main road. On reaching the causeway, 
General Smith deployed his skirmishers forward, and sent out 
his advance-guard. The column advanced, and the skirmish- 
ers became engaged at once. The firing was very brisk, but 
the enemy' sj)ickets were driven steadily back till they reached 
the position of their brigade at Eussell's house, where their 
resistance was obstinate. 

The ground was unfavorable to artillery till the skirmishers 
had cleared the hill beyond the causeway, when Major Tay- 
lor, chief of artillery, of Sherman's division, advanced first one 
of Bouton's guns, and very soon after the remaining three 
guns of the battery. These, upon reaching the hill-top, com- 
menced firing at Eussell's house and outhouses, in which the 
enemy had taken shelter, when their whole force retreated, 
end ftiU possession was obtained of Eussell's house £,nd the 
ground for three hundred yards in advance, where the roads 
meet. This being the limit to which the brigade was intended 
to go, it was halted. The head of General Denver's column 
reached its position as the enemy was beginning to retreat. 

General Morgan L. Smith conducted the advance of his bri- 
gade handsomely, and the chief work and loss fell upon his two 
leading regiments, the Eighth Missouri and Fifth-fifth Elinois, 
He held the ground tUl about daylight next morning, when, 
by General Sherman's order, he left a strong picket there, 
and placed his brigade back a short distance in easy support, 
where it remained until relieved. 

No loss was sustained by Hurlbut's or Denver's commands 



COEINTH. 63 

in their- flank movements on Kussell's ; tlie loss in General 
Morgan L. Smith's brigade was ten killed and thirty-one 
wounded. 

The position thus gained proved to be one of great natural 
strength, and Sherman at once proceeded to fortify it. Lines 
were laid o& by the engineers, and although the advance on 
Corinth had witnessed their first experiment with intrenching 
tools, the troops in Sherman's division succeeded in construct- 
ing a parapet that met the approval of the critical eye of the 
commander-in-chief. The dense woods and undergrowth 
were cleared away in front, to give range to the batteries. 
The work went on day and night without interruption. The 
division continued to occupy the intrenched camp at Kussell's 
until the night of May 27th, when an order was received from 
General Halleck by telegraph — through wdiich means regrdar 
communication had been estabhshed between general head- 
quarters and the several division commanders — directing Gen- 
eral Sherman to send a force the next day to drive the rebels 
from his front on the Corinth road, to drive in their pickets as 
far as possible, and to make a strong demonstration on Corinth 
itseH. Under authority conferred upon him by the same 
order, Sherman called upon Major-Creneral McClernand, com- 
manding the Reserve Corps, and Major-General Hurlbut, who 
commanded one of the adjacent divisions, to furnish one bri- 
gade each, to co-operate in the proposed movement with the 
two brigades of Denver and Morgan L. Smith, detached from 
Sherman's own division for the same purpose. Colonel John 
A.. Logan's brigade of Judah's division, of McClernand's 
reserve corps, and Brigadier-General J. C. Veatch's brigade 
of Hurlbut's division, accordingly reported to General Sher- 
man for this duty. 

The house referred to was a double log building, standing on 
a high ridge on the upper or southern end of a large field, 
and was used by the enemy as a block-house, from which to 
annoy our pickets. The large field was perfectly overlooked 
by this house, as well as by the ridge along its southern line of 
defence, which was covered by a dense grove of heavy oaks 



64 SHERMAJ^ AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and underbrusli. Tlie main Corintli road runs along the east- 
ern fence, •whilst the field itself, about three hundred yards 
wide by about five hundred yards long, extended far to the 
right into the low land of Phillip's Creek, so densely wooded as 
to be impassable. On the eastern side of the field the woods 
were more open. The enemy could be seen at all times in and 
about the house and the ridge beyond, and our pickets could 
not show themselves on our side of the field without attracting 
a shot. 

Sherman ordered General J. W. Denver, with his third 
brigade, and the Morton battery of four guns, to march in 
perfect silence at eight A. M., keeping well under cover as he 
approached the field ; General Morgan L. Smith's first brigade, 
wdth Barrett's and Waterhouse's batteries, to move along the 
main road, keeping his force well masked in the woods to the 
left ; Brigadier-General Veatch's brigade to move fi-om Gen- 
eral Hurlbut's lines through the woods on the left of and con- 
necting with General M. L. Smith's ; and General John A. 
Logan's brigade to move down to Bowie's Hill Cut of the 
Mobile and Ohio railroad, and thence forward to the left, so 
as to connect with General Denver's brigade on the extreme 
right ; all to march at eight A. M., with skirmishers well to the 
front, to keep well concealed, and, at a signal, to rush quickly 
on to the ridge, thus avoiding as much as possible the danger 
of crossing the open field, exposed to the fire of a concealed 
enemy. 

The preliminary arrangements having thus been made, two 
twenty-pounder Parrot rifle-guns of Silfversparre's battery, 
under the immediate supervision of Major Taylor, chief of 
artillery of Sherman's division, were moved silently through 
the forest to a point behind a hill, from the top of which could 
be seen the house and ground to be contested. The guns 
were unlimbered, loaded with shell, and moved by hand to the 
crest. At the proper time he gave the order to commence firing 
and demolish the house. About a dozen shells well directed 
soon accompKshed this ; then designating a single shot of the 
twenty-pound Parrot-gun of Silfversparre as a signal for the 



CORINTH. 65 

brigades to adyance, he waited till aU were in position, and 
ordered the signal, when the troops dashed forward, crossed 
the field, drove the enemy across the ridge and field beyond 
into another dense and seemingly impenetrable forest. The 
enemy was evidently surprised. By ten A. m. we were masters 
of the position. Generals Grant and Thomas were present 
during the affair, and witnessed the movement, which was ad- 
mhably executed. 

An irregTilar piece of cleared land lay immediately in front 
of General Denver's position, and extended obUquely to the 
left, in front of and across Morgan Smith's and Veatch's bri- 
gades, which were posted on the right and left of the main 
Corinth road, leading directly south. About three p. m. Sher- 
man's troops were startled by the quick rattle of musketry 
along our whole picket-line, followed by the cheers and yells 
of an attacking column of the enemy. 

Sherman's artillery and Mann's battery of Veatch's brigade 
had been judiciously posted by Major Taylor, and before the 
yeU of the enemy had died away arose our reply in the cannon's 
mouth. The firing was very good, rapid, well-directed, and 
the shells burst in the right place. Our pickets were at first 
driven in a httle, but soon recovered their ground and held it, 
and the enemy retreated in utter confusion. On further ex- 
amination of the ground, with its connection on the left with 
General Hurlbut, and right resting on the railroad near 
Borne HiU Cut, it was determined to intrench. The Hues 
were laid out after dark, and the work substantially finished 
by morning. All this time Sherman was within one thousand 
three hundred yards of the enemy's main intrenchments, which 
were concealed by the dense foHage of the oak forest, and 
without a battle, which at that time was to be avoided, Sher- 
man could not push out his skirmishers more than two hundred 
yards to the fi'ont. For his own security he had to destroy 
two farmhouses, both of which had been loopholed and occu- 
pied by the enemy. By nine A. m. of the twenty -ninth our 
works were substantially done, and our artillery in position, 
and at four P. M. the siege-train was brought forward, and 



66 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Colonel McDowell's second brigade had come from the formei 
lines at EusseU's, and had relieved General John A. Logan's 
brigade. 

Sherman then had his whole division in a shghtly curved 
line, facing south, his right resting on the Mobile and Ohio 
railroad, near a deep cut known as Bowie Hill Cut, and left 
resting on the main Corinth road, at the crest of the ridge, 
there connecting with General Hurlbut, who, in turn, on his 
left connected with General Davies, and so on down the whole 
Hne to its extremity. So near was the enemy that the Union 
troops could hear the sound of his di'ums, and sometimes of 
voices in command, and the raiboad cars arriving and depart- 
ing at Corinth were easily distinguished. For some days 
and nights cars had been arriving and departing very fi-e- 
quently, especially in the night. Before daybreak, Sherman 
instructed the brigade commanders and the field-officers of 
the day to feel forward as far as possible, but all reported 
the enemy's pickets still in force in the dense woods to our 
front. But about six A. m. a curious explosion, sounding Hke 
a volley of large siege-pieces, followed by others singly and in 
twos and threes, arrested Sherman's attention ; and soon after 
a large smoke arose from the direction of Corinth, when he 
telegraphed General Halleck to ascertain the cause. The 
latter answered that he could not explain it, but ordered Sher- 
man " to advance his division and feel the enemy, if still in his 
fi-ont." Sherman immediately put in motion two regiments 
of each brigade, by different roads, and soon after followed 
with the whole division, infantry, artUlery, and cavalry. 

Somewhat to his surprise, the enemy's chief redoubt was 
found within thii'teen hundred yards of our line of intrench- 
ments, but completely masked by the dense forest and under- 
growth. Instead of being, as had been supposed, a continuous 
line of intrenchments encircling Corinth, the defences con- 
sisted of separate redoubts, connected in part by a parapet 
and ditch, and in part by shallow rifle-pits, the trees being 
felled so as to give a good field of fire to and beyond the main 
road. General M. L. Smith's brigade moved rapidly down the 



CORINTH. 67 

main road, entering tlie first redoubt of the enemy at seven a. m. 
It was completely evacuated, and he pushed on into Corinth, and 
beyond, to CoUege TTill . General Denver entered the enemy's 
Hnes at the same time, seven a. m., at a point midway between 
the wagon and raih^oad, and proceeded on to Corinth, and 
Colonel McDowell kept further to the right, near the Mobile 
and Ohio Kaih'oad. By eight A. M. all Sherman's division was 
at Corinth and beyond. 

On the whole ridge extending from Sherman's camp into 
Corinth, and to the right and left, could be seen the remains 
of the abandoned camps of the enemy, flour and provisions 
scattered about, and every thing indicating a speedy and con- 
fused retreat. In the town itself many houses were still burn- 
ing, and the ruins of warehouses and buildings containing 
commissary and other confederate stores were stiU smoulder- 
ing ; but there still remained piles of cannon-balls, shells, and 
shot, sugar, molasses, beans, rice, and other property, which 
the enemy had failed to carry off or destroy. 

From the best information obtained from the few citizens 
who remained in Corinth, it appeared that the enemy had for 
some days been removing their sick and valuable stores, and 
had sent away on raih'oad-cars a part of their effective force 
on the night of the 28tli. But, of course, even the vast 
amount of their rolling-stock could not carry away an army 
of a hundred thousand men. The enemy was therefore com- 
pelled to march away, and began the march by ten o'clock on 
the night of the 29th — the columns fiUing all the roads leading 
south and west aU night — the rear-guard firing the train, which 
led to the explosions and conflagration. The enemy did not 
relieve his pickets that morning, and many of them were cap- 
tured, who did not have the slightest intimation of the pro- 
posed evacuation. 

Finding Corinth abandoned by the enemy, Sherman ordered 
General M. L. Smith to pursue on the Eipley road, by which 
it appeared they had taken the bulk of their artillery. 

General Smith pushed the pursuit up to the bridges 
and narrow causeway by which the bottom of Tuscumbia 



68 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Creek is passed. The enemy opened with canister on the 
small party of cavaky, and burned every bridge, leaving the 
woods full of straggling soldiers. Many of these were gath- 
ered up and sent to the rear, but the main army had escaped 
across Tuscumbia Creek. Sherman says, in his official report 
of the siege : 

" The evacuation of Corinth, at the time and in the manner 
in which it was done, was a clear back-down fi'om the high 
and arrogant tone heretofore assumed by the rebels. The 
ground was of their own choice. The fortifications, though 
poor and indifferent, were all they supposed necessary to our 
defeat, as they had had two months to make them, with an 
immense force to work at their disposal. If, with two such 
railroads as they possessed, they could not supply then- army 
with reinforcements and jjrovisions, how can they attempt it 
in this poor, arid, and exhausted part of the country?" 

From the time the army moved on Corinth, up to the date 
of its evacuation, the troops of Sherman's division had con- 
structed seven distinct lines of intrenchments. Scarcely had 
one line been completed before they were called upon to ad- 
vance a short distance, take up a new position, and construct 
another line. Occupying as it did the extreme right flank of 
the army, this division was necessarily more exposed, and was 
compelled to perform harder work, and furnished heavier de- 
tails than any other single division in the entire command. 
But every task was performed with a cheerfulness and alacrity 
that ehcited the highest encomiums fi-om the division com- 
mander. • 

" But a few days ago," he says ia his congratulatory order 
of May 31st, " a large and powerful rebel army lay at Corinth, 
with outposts extending to our very camp at Shiloh. They 
held two raihoads extending north and south, east and west, 
across the whole extent of their country, with a vast number 
of locomotives and cars to bring to them speedily and cer- 
tainly their reinforcements and supplies. They called to their 
aid all their armies from every quarter, abandoning the sea- 
coast and the great river Mississippi, that they might over- 



CORINTH. g9 

wlielm us witli numbers in the place of their own clioosing. 
They had their chosen leaders, men of high reputation and 
courage, and they dared us to leave the cover of our iron-clad 
gunboats to come to fight them in their trenches, and still more 
dangerous swamps and ambuscades of their Southern forests. 
Their whole country, from Richmond to Memphis and Nash- 
ville to Mobile, rung wdth their taunts and boastings, as to 
how they would immolate the Yankees if they dared to leave 
the Tennessee River. They boldly and defiantly challenged 
us to meet them at Corinth. We accepted the challenge, and 
came slowly and without attempt at concealment to the very 
ground of their selection ; and they have fled away. We yes- 
terday marched unopposed through the burning embers of 
their destroyed camps and j)roperty, and pursued them to 
their swamps, until burning bridges plainly confessed they had 
fled, and not marched away for better ground. It is a \dctory 
as brilliant and important as any recorded in history, and 
every officer and soldier who lent his aid has just reason to 
be proud of his part, 

" No amount of sopliistry or words fi'om the leaders of the 
rebelhon can succeed in giving the evacuation of Corinth, un- 
der the circumstances, any other title than that of a signal 
defeat, more humiliating to them and their cause than if we 
had entered the place over the dead and mangled bodies of 
their soldiers. We are not here to kill and slay, but to vindi- 
cate the honor and just authority of that government which 
has been bequeathed to us by our honored fathers, and to 
wJiom we would be recreant if we permitted their work to pass 
to our children marred and spoiled by ambitious and wicked 
rebels. 

"The general commanding, while thus claiming for his 
division their just share in this glorious result, must, at the 
same time, remind them that much yet remains to be done, 
and that all must still continue the same \dgilance and pa- 
tience, industry and obedience, tiU the enemy lays down his 
arms, and publicly acknowledges, for their supposed gTievances, 
they must obey the laws of their country, and not attemjjt its 



70 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

overthrow by threats, by cruelty, and by war. Tliey must be 
made to feel and acknowledge the power of a just and mighty 
nation. This result can only be accomphshed by a cheerful 
and ready obedience to the orders and authority of our lead- 
ers, in whom we now have just reason to feel the most implicit 
confidence. That the fifth division of the right wing will do 
this, and that in due time we will go to our families and friends 
at home, is the earnest prayer and wish of your immediate 
commander." 

The ability and untiring energy displayed by General Sher- 
man during the siege elicited the warm praise of General 
Grant, who afterwards, in an official dispatch to army head- 
quarters, wrote : " His services as division commander in the 
advance on Corinth, I will venture to say, were appreciated by 
the now general-in-chief (General Halleck) beyond those of 
any other division commander." 

On the 2d of June, Sherman was ordered by General Hal- 
leck to march with his own division and Hurlbut's through 
Corinth and dislodge the enemy, supposed to be in position 
near Smith's bridge, seven miles southwest of Corinth, where 
the Memphis and Charleston railway crosses Tuscumbia Creek. 
He set out immediately, his own division in advance ; but on 
the morning of the 3d, Colonel T. Lyle Dickey, Fourth TIliTiois 
Cavahy, w^ho was sent forward to reconnoitre, returned and 
reported the bridge burned, and no enemy near it. Sherman 
then went into bivouac near Chewalla, and set to work to save 
such of the rolling-stock of the railway as could probably be 
rendered serviceable, and by the 9th, chiefly through the exer- 
tions of the Fifty-second Indiana, Major Main, which was 
generally known as "the raihoad regiment," succeeded in 
collecting and sending to Corinth seven locomotives in toler- 
able order, a dozen platform-cars, over two hundred pairs of 
truck-wheels, and the iron-work of about sixty cars. 

On the 26th of May, Sherman had received from the War 
Department, and had accepted, a commission as Major-Gen- 
eral of Volimteers, dating from May 1st. 



MEMPHIS. 71 



CHAPTER VI. 

MEMPHIS. 

Grand JimcTiON, fifty-two miles west of Memphis, and one 
himdi'ed and fifty-four south from Cairo, is the junction of 
the Memphis and Charleston with the Mississippi Central 
Eailway. Ninety-nine miles from Memphis, and a hun- 
dred and two fi-om Grand Junction, the latter road joins 
the Mississippi and Tennessee Railway at Grenada. An army 
operating from Memphis as a base, and holding in force 
Cormth, HoUy Springs, and some such point as Hernando, on 
the Mississippi and Tennessee Railway, are in a position to 
defend West Tennessee from the Tennessee River to the 
Mississippi, and to take the offensive against an enemy pro- 
tecting Northern Mississippi. 

No sooner was Corinth occupied, and the semblance of a pur- 
suit of the enemy ended, than General HaUeck ordered General 
Buell to march with the Army of the Ohio by Huntsville and 
Stevenson on Chattanooga, Tennessee, and seize the key of 
the debouches from the mountain region of the centre ; while 
General Grant, again restored to the command of the Ai'my of 
the Tennessee, was left iu command of the District of West 
Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, and General Pope's 
troops were sent back to Missouri. The enemy was concen- 
trated at Tupelo, Mississippi, forty -nine miles below Corinth, 
on the Hne of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, under the com- 
mand of General Braxton Bragg, who had reheved Beaure- 
gard in consequence of the latter's illness. 

On the 9th of Jime, at Chewalla, Sherman received General 
Halleck's orders to march with his own division and Hurlbut's 
Fourth division to Grand Junction, to repau* the Memphis and 



72 SHERMAN AND fflS CAMPAIGNS. 

Charleston Railway west of that point, and then to assume 
the duty of guarding the road against any attempt of the 
enemy to interrupt its operations. Sending forward Denver's 
third brigade of the fifth division, and the whole of Hurlbut's 
division in advance, to repaii* the bridges on the road, Sher- 
man marched on the 11th with the remainder of his command, 
reached Grand Junction on the night of the 13th, and, finding 
no water there, occupied La Grange, three miles further west, 
on the morning of the 14th. While engaged here in repair- 
iug two pieces of broken trestle-work, he sent Yeatch's 
brigade, of Hurlbut's and Morgan L. Smith's brigade of his 
own division, to Holly Springs to clear his flanks of the enemy. 
After di'iving a small force of the enemy out of the town, and 
as far south as Lamar, the detachment remained two days at 
Holly Springs, and then rejoined the main body. On the 
21st, Sherman marched from HoUy Springs ; on the 23d, three 
miles west of Lafayette, met a railway train fi'om Memphis ; 
and on the 25th, having built two long sections of trestle- 
work at La Grange, two large bridges at Moscow, and two 
small ones at Lafayette, was able to report his task accom- 
pUshed, and the railway in running order fi'om Memphis to 
Grand Junction. His force was then disposed so as to pro- 
tect the line of the railway, Hurlbut's division at Grand Junc- 
tion and La Grange, his own at Moscow and Lafayette. 

On the 29tli of June, in accordance with instructions 
received by telegraph ft-om General Halleck, leaving one regi- 
ment and a section of artillery at each of these points, Sher- 
man marched on HoUy Springs, twenty-five miles equidistant 
from La Grange and Moscow, to co-operate with Hamilton's 
division, of Eosecrans' corps, which he was informed would 
reach there at a given time. Concentrating at Hudsonville by 
converging roads, the two divisions reached the Coldwater, 
five miles fi-om HoUy Springs, early on the morning of the ap- 
pointed day. Denver's brigade, and the Fourth lUinois Cav- 
alry, the latter two hundred strong, were sent forward, and 
drove the enemy, consisting of about fifteen hundred cavalry, 
through and beyond the to^Ti of HoUy Springs. Notlnng was 



MEMPHIS. 73 

heard of Hamilton, wlio had. approached within nineteen miles 
of Holly Springs and then retired to Corinth ; but, on the 6th, 
orders were received fi-om General Halleck to fall back to the 
railway and protect it, and the command accordingly returned 
to its former position. 

Early in July, upon the appointment of General Halleck 
as general-in-chief of the Armies of the United States, the 
Department of the Mississippi was broken up, and General 
Grant was assigned to the command of the Department of 
the "l^ennessee, embracing the theatre of his previous opera- 
tions. That officer taking advantage of the period of in- 
activity which now followed, turned his attention to the con- 
dition of the country occupied by his command. Memphis 
in particular was in a sad phght. Nearly all of its young 
men Yvere in the rebel army, many of its old men had fled 
upon the approach of the Union troops, or in anticipation 
of such an event, and in their places appeared a horde of 
unscrupulous traders, eager to make money in any legitimate 
way, and detoiing any way legitimate that brought them large 
profits. They struck hands with other men of the same stamp 
whom they found in Memphis ready for their use, and the city 
became a nest of contraband trade. Commerce and war are 
mortal foes. "Wherever they meet or cross each other's path, 
one of them must die. If the trader's gold is stronger than 
the soldier's honor, the soldier's honor trails in the dust, war 
grows languid, barter dulls the sword, treason flourishes, and 
spies reign. If the soldier spurns the bribe, in whatever in- 
nocent shape it may creep, trade perishes, merchants walk 
the streets idly, or crowd the headquarters uselessly, store- 
houses gape vacantly or turn into hospitals, women and chil- 
dren starve, and the provost-marshal is king. And these 
things are necessarily so. War itself is so cruel that those 
means are most truly humane which tend to bring the con- 
test soonest to a close, regardless of every intermediate con- 
sideration apart from its object. The general must think only 
of his army. 

On 15th of July, fi'om Corinth, General Grant sent tele- 



74 SHERMAN AM) HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

graphic orders to Slierman, to marcli at once, witli his own 
and Hnrlbnt's division, to Memphis, relieve Brigadier-General 
Hovey in command of that place, and send aU the infantry of 
"Wallace's division to Helena, Arkansas, to report to General 
Curtis. Accordingly, on Monday, July 21st, Sherman assumed 
command of the district of Memphis, stationing his own di- 
\isiou in Fort Pickering, and Hurlbut's on the river below, and 
on the 24th sent the other troops to Helena. 

General Grant had strongly impressed upon him the neces- 
sity of immediately abating the evils and disorders prevailing 
within the Hmits of his new command. He was to put Mem- 
phis in a thorough state of defence. With regard to civil 
matters, his instructions were few. When the head of a family 
had gone South, the family must be made to foUow. The quar- 
termaster was to seize, and rent for account of whom it may 
concern, all buildings leased or left vacant and belonging to 
disloyal owners. All negroes working for the United States 
were to be registered, and an account kept of their time, so 
that an adjustment could afterwards be made with their 
owners, if the Government should decide on taking that course. 
It will be remembered that the Government had not yet de- 
clared, or even adopted, any definite poHcy with respect to the 
slaves in the country occupied by oiir forces. 

Memphis was a camp of the Confederate Army, was cap- 
tured by the United States Army, and was occupied and held 
by it as a military post. In a country, or m any part of it, 
held by an army in time of war, whether offensively or defen- 
sively, there is no law but the law of war. The law of war is 
the wiU of the commander. He is accountable only to his 
superiors. Notliing exists within the limits of his command, 
except by his choice. With respect to his army, he is gov- 
erned by the Ai'ticles of War and the army regulations ; with 
regard to all others, his power is unlimited, except to the ex- 
tent that it may be abridged or controlled by the instructions 
of his Government. 

Sherman permitted the mayor and other civil officers of the 
city to remain in the exercise of their functions, restricting 



MEMPHIS. 75 

them to tlie preservation of law and order among the citizens, 
and the hghting and cleaning of the streets, and confining the 
action of the provost-marshal and his guards to persons in the 
mihtary service and to buildings and grounds used by the army. 
The expenses of the local government were to be defrayed 
by municipal taxes. Sherman held that all persons who re- 
mained in Memphis were bound to bear true allegiance to the 
United States, and, therefore, did not always exact an oath of 
loyalty ; that they must make their choice at once between 
the rebellion and the Union ; and that if they stayed and' 
helped the enemy in any way, they were to be treated as spies. 
He required no provost-marshal's passes for inland travel, but 
restricted it to the five main roads leading from the city, and 
stationed guards on them to minutely inspect all persons and 
property going in or out. No cotton was allowed to be bought 
beyond the lines and brought in, except on contracts to be 
paid at the end of the war, so that the enemy might get no 
aid therefrom. Gold, silver, and treasury notes, when sent into 
the Confederate lines in exchange for cotton, always found 
theh way, as he knew, sooner or later, voluntarily or by force, 
into the Confederate treasury, and were used to buy arms for 
the Confederate army in the British colonies. He, therefore, 
absolutely prohibited their use in payment. He forbade the 
exportation of salt, because it was used to cure bacon and 
beef, and thus to mobilize the Confederate army. A strict 
search was also made for arms and ammunition, which were 
often employed by the rapacious and unscrupulous traders as 
a means of accompHshing their ends. All able-bodied male 
negroes were required to work, either for their masters or for 
the Government, and the women and children, as well as the 
feeble, he refused to support or feed ; but in no case did he 
permit any intimidation or persuasion to be used, with those 
who chose to leave their masters, to compel or induce them to 
return. With regard to all these subjects, he preferred not to 
meddle with details or individual cases, but laid down full, 
clear, and precise rules, in the form of written instructions for 
the guidance of his subordinates, and left the execution to 



76 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

them. His constant endeavor was to apply severe and exact 
justice to all, and to avoid tlie entanglements and anomalies 
of exceptions in favor of particular persons. Shortly after- 
wards, when the Government issued orders removing the mil- 
itary restrictions imposed on the purchase of cotton, Sherman 
yielded a ready acquiescence, but at once addressed strong 
remonstrances on the subject to the authorities at Washington, 
assuring them that the measure would greatly s|irengthen the 
hands of the Confederate forces. He also turned his attention 
■ to the depredations of the guerrillas who had hitherto infested 
the district, harbored and assisted by the more evil-disposed 
of the inhabitants, protected against capture by the vicinity 
of a large fiiendly army, and secured against punishment by 
threats of retaliation upon the persons of our prisoners of 
war in the hands of the enemy. A guerrilla is a person who, 
alone or in company with a few comrades, wages war within 
or behind the Hues of an enemy, for the purpose of inflicting 
incidental injury upon the persons or property of isolated 
persons or parties belonging to the opposing forces, adhering 
to the cause, or not adliering to the cause, of the army by 
which the guerrilla is sustained. He is careless as to the means • 
he employs and the persons against whom he employs them. 
He wears no uniform. Robbery, arson, and murder he com- 
mits as a soldier. When in danger of capture, he throws away 
his arms and becomes a citizen. When captured, he produces 
his commission or points to his muster-roll, and is again a 
soldier. A few guerrillas endanger the Hves and property of 
the thousands of non-combatants from whom they cannot be 
distinguished by the eye. The rebel government and the rebel 
commanders seem to have considered every thing justifiable 
that could be done by them in connection with the war : so 
they justified guerrillas and upheld them. Sherman regarded 
them as wild beasts, hunted them down and destroyed 
them. Where Union families were harassed, he caused the 
families of secessionists to be punished. Wliere steamboats, 
engaged in peaceful commerce, were fired upon, he caused the 
property of secessionists to be destroyed, and he finally an- 



MEMPHIS. 77 

noimced that, for every boat attacked by guerrillas, ten seces- 
sion families should be exiled from the comforts of Memphis. 
If, however, the inhabitants would resist the guerrillas, he would 
allow them to bring in produce and take out suppHes. Thus, 
order and quiet were, for the time being, restored throughout 
the hmits of his command. 

Durmg the fall several important expeditions were sent out 
fi-om Memphis. Early in September, Hurlbut moved vnth his 
division to Brownsville, for the purpose of threatening the 
flank of any force moving from the line of the Tallahatchie 
against General Grant's position at Bolivar ; while, at the 
same time, Brigadier-General Morgan L. Smith with his 
brigade, a battery of artillery, and four hundred cavalry under 
Colonel B. H. Grierson, Sixth Illinois Cavahy, moved to Holly 
Springs, destroyed the road and railway bridges over the Cold- 
water, and then returned, having held in check and diverted 
the enemy's forces assembling at Holly Springs to threaten 
Grant's communications, and by destroying the bridges having 
prevented the enemy from harassing the flank of a column 
mo\ing eastward from Memphis. 

In the latter part of October, General Grant summoned 
General Sherman to meet him at Columbus, Kentucky, to 
arrange the plan of the coming campaign. Grant's army occu- 
pied, substantially, the line fi'om Memphis eastward along the 
Chattanooga railway to Corinth. The Army of the Potomac 
remained inactive in Western Maryland ; the Army of the 
Ohio, having defeated Bragg's invasion by the decisive victory 
at Richmond, Kentucky, held the passive defensive ; and in 
Missouri, General Curtis was preparing to resist invasion fi'om 
Arkansas. The great work before the Army of the Tennessee 
was the capture of Yicksburg. But the enemy, about forty 
thousand strong, imder Lieutenant-General Pemberton, must 
first be dislodged fi-om the hne of the Tallahatchie, which 
they held in force, -with all the fords and bridges strongly for- 
tified. Grant was to move his main army direct from Jackson 
by Grand Junction and La Grange, following generally the 
line of the Mobile and Ohio Eailway. Sherman was to move 



78 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

out of Mempliis witli four brigades of infantry on the Tcliula- 
homa road, to strike tlie enemy at "Wyatt's simultaneously 
with Grant's arrival at Waterford. Major-General C. C. "Wash- 
burne, over whom Grant had been authorized to exercise 
command in case of necessity, was instructed by Sherman 
to cross the Mississippi with above five thousand cavalry from 
Helena, Arkansas, and march rapidly on Grenada, to threaten 
the enemy's rear. Precisely on the day appointed, the three 
columns moved as indicated. While Pemberton was intent 
in preparations to meet Grant and Sherman behind his fortifi- 
cations, he learned that Washburne, with a force of which he 
could not conjecture the size, source, or destination, had 
crossed the Tallahatchie, near the mouth of the Yallabusha, 
and was rapidly approaching the railways in his rear. There 
was no time to hesitate. Abandoning his works, Pemberton 
relinquished the line of the Tallahatchie without a battle, and 
hastily retreated on Grenada. 

During the fall, and in preparation for the movement on 
Vicksburg, a sufficient number of the regiments called out by 
the President, after the failure of the summer campaign in 
Virginia, reported to General Sherman, to swell his division to 
six brigades ; and by persistent and repeated applications he 
finally succeeded in adding the only organized battalion of his 
own regular regiment, the Thirteenth Infantry, under the com- 
mand of Captain Edward C. Washington. Early in Novem- 
ber, the division, which in the latter part of October had been 
renumbered as the First Division of the Army of the Tennes- 
see, was organized as follows : 

The first brigade, Brigadier-General Morgan L. Smith, con- 
sisted of the Sixth Missouri, Eighth Missouri, Fifty-fourth 
Oliio, One Hundred and TMrteentli lUinois, and One Hundred 
and TtventietJi Illinois. 

Second brigade, Colonel John A. McDowell, of the Sixth 
Iowa ; Sixth Iowa, Fortieth Illinois, Forty-sixth Ohio, Thir- 
teenth U. S. Infantry, ajjd One Hundredth Indiana. 

Third brigade, Brigadier-General James TV. Denver ; Forty- 



MEMPHIS. 79 

eightli Oliio, Fifty-tliircl Ohio, Seventietli Ohio, Ninety-seventh 
Indiana, and Ninety-ninth Indiana. 

Fourth brigade, Colonel David Stuart, of the Fifty-fifth Illi- 
nois ; Fifty-fifth Illinois, Fifty-seventh Ohio, Eiglity-tJdrd In- 
diana, One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois, and One Hundred 
and Tiventy -seventh Illinois. 

Fifth brigade. Colonel K. P. Buckland of the Seventy-second 
Ohio ; Seventy-second Ohio, Thirty-second Wisconsin, Ninety- 
third Illinois, and One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois. 

Sixth, or reserve brigade ; the Thirty-third Wisconsin, and 
One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois. 

Besides these regiments of infantry, there were attached to 
the division, and unassigned to brigades, seven batteries of 
light artillery, and the Sixth Illinois Cavahy, Colonel Ben- 
jamui H. Grierson. The new regiments are designated in 
itahcs. 

Early in the winter of 1862, the organization of army corps 
commenced in the Army of the Potomac, just before its spring- 
campaign was introduced in the West. In December, the 
troops serving in the Department of the Tennessee were desig- 
nated as the Thirteenth Army Corps, and Major-General 
Grant as the commander. He immediately subdivided his 
command, designating the troops in the district of Memphis 
as the right wing of the Thirteenth Corps, to be commanded 
by Major-General Sherman, and to be organized for active 
service in three divisions. Sh-erman assigned Brigadier- 
General Andrew J. Smith to the command of the first division, 
consisting of the new brigades of Burbridge and Landrum ; 
Brigadier-General Morgan L. Smith to the second division, 
iacluding the brigades of Colonel Giles A. Smith, Eighth 
IMissouri, and David Stuart, Fifty-fifth Ihinois, formerly the 
first and fourth brigades ; and Brigadier-General George W. 
Morgan to the third division, comprising the new brigades of 
Osterhaus and Colonels Lindsay and De Courcey. The other 
brigades remaiued as the garrison of Memphis. 



80 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

THE ATTEMPT ON VICKSBUEG. 

General Geant directed General Slierman to proceed with 
the right wing of the Thhteenth Corps to the mouth of the 
Yazoo Kiver, and there disembark and attempt the capture of 
Vicksburg fi'om the north side, wliile he himself, with the left 
wing, should move on Jackson, against the enemy from the 
rear, and, uniting the two columns, proceed to invest the place, 
in the event of the first part of the plan proving impracti- 
cable. 

Before entering upon the duty now confided to him, Sher- 
man issued the following characteristic orders, dated Memphis, 
December 18, 1862 : 

" I. The expedition now fitting out is purely of a mihtary 
character, and the interests involved are of too important a 
character to be mixed up with personal and private business. 
No citizen, male or female, will be allowed to accompany it, 
unless employed as part of a crew, or as servants to the trans- 
ports. Female chambermaids to the boats, and nurses to the 
sick alone, will be allowed, unless the wives of captains and 
pilots actually belonging to the boats. No laundress, officer's 
or soldier's wife must pass below Helena. 

" n. No person whatever, citizen, officer, or sutler, will, on 
any consideration, buy or deal in cotton, or other produce of 
the country. Should any cotton be brought on board of any 
transport, going or returning, the brigade quartermaster, of 
which the boat forms a part, wall take possession of it, and in- 
voice it to Captain A. E. Eddy, chief quartermaster at Mem- 
phis. 

" m. Should any cotton or other produce be brought back 



THE ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG 81 

to Memphis by any chartered boat, Captaui Eddy will take 
possession of the same, and sell it for the benefit of the United 
States. If accompanied by its actual producer, the planter or 
factor, the quartermaster wdll furnish him with a receipt for 
the same, to be settled for on proof of his loyalty at the close 
of the war. 

" IV. Boats ascending the river may take cotton from the 
shore for bulkheads to protect their engines or crew, but on 
arrival at Memphis it must be turned over to the quarter- 
master, with a statement of the time, place, and name of its 
owner. The trade in cotton must await a more peaceful state 
of affairs. 

"V. Should any citizen accompany the expedition below 
Helena, in violation of those orders, any colonel of a regiment, 
or captain of a battery, will conscript him into the service of 
the United States for the unexpired term of his command. If 
he show a refractory spirit, unfitting him for a soldier, the 
commanding ofiicer present will turn him over to the captain 
of the boat as a deck-hand, and compel him to work in that 
capacity, without wages, until the boat returns to Memphis. 

" VI. Any person whatever, w^hether in the service of the 
United States or transports, found making reports for publi- 
cation which might reach the enemy, giving them information, 
aid, and comfort, will be arrested and treated as spies." 

Sherman embarked at Memphis on the 20th of December, 
1862, two days later than the time originally designated, hav- 
ing been delayed by the great want of steamboat transporta- 
tion. 

The three divisions of A. J. Smith, M. L. Smith, and Mor- 
gan, reported a grand aggregate of thirty thousand and 
sixty-eight officers and men of all arms for duty. At Helena 
his force was increased by the division of Brigadier-General 
Frederick Steele, twelve thousand three hundred and ten 
strong, comprising the brigades of Brigadier-Generals C. E. 
Hovey, John M. Thaj^er, Wyman, and Frank P. Blair, Jr. 
The place of rendezvous was at Friar's Point, on the left bank 
of the Mississippi, below Helena. The fleet reached MiHiken's 

6 



82 SHERMAN A^J) HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Bend on tlie niglit of tlie twentj-foiirtli. On Cliristmas day 
Brigadier-General Burbridge landed with liis brigade of A. J. 
Smith's division, and broke up the Yicksburg and Texas 
railway for a long distance near the crossing of the Tensas ; 
and without waiting for his return, Sherman pushed on to a 
point opposite the mouth of the Yazoo, landed on the west 
bank, and sent Morgan L. Smith with his division to break 
up the same road at a point eight miles from Yicksburg. On 
the 26th, the transports, led and convoyed by the gunboat 
fleet, under Acting Hear Admiral J). D. Porter, ascended the 
old mouth of the Yazoo about twelve miles. Of the tran- 
sport fleet, Morgan's division led the advance, followed in order 
by Steele, Morgan L, Smith, and A. J. Smith. By noon on 
the 27tli, the entire command had disembarked on the south 
bank of the river, near the mouth of the Chickasaw bayou, a 
small stream, which, rising near the toTVTi of Yicksburg, finds 
its way across the bottom land about midway between the 
bluffs and the river. The clay bluffs, which are about three 
hundred feet high, and very steep, recede from the Mississippi 
on the north side of the to^oi, and follow the course of the 
river at a distance of about four miles, the intermediate space 
being an alluvial swamp, full of lagoons, bayous, and quick- 
sands, and covered with cottonwood, cypress, and a dense 
undergrowth of tangled vuies. The Yazoo was very low, and 
its banks were about thirty feet above the water. On reach- 
ing the point of debarkation, De Courcey's, Stuart's, and 
Blair's brigade, were sent forward in the direction of Yicks- 
burg about three miles, and as soon as the whole army had 
disembarked it moved out in four columns, Steele's above the 
mouth of Chickasaw bayou; Morgan, with Blair's brigade of 
Steele's division, below the same bayou ; Morgan L. Smith's 
on the main road from Johnson's plantation to Yicksburg, 
with orders to bear to his left, so. as to strike the bayou 
about a mile south of where Morgan was ordered to cross it, 
and A. J. Smith's division on the main road. 

All the heads of columns met the enemy's pickets, and 
drove them towards Yicksburg. During the night of the 



THE ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 83 

.27tli, the ground was reconnoitred as well as possible, and it 
was found to be as difficult as it could possibly be from nature 
and art. Immediately in front was a bayou, passable only at 
two points, on a narrow levee and on a sand-bar, wliicli were 
perfectly commanded by the enemy's sharpshooters that lined 
the levee or parapet on its opposite bank. Behind this was 
an irregular strip of beach or table-land, on which were con- 
structed a series of rifle-pits and batteries, and behind that a 
high abrupt range of hills, whose scarred sides were marked 
all the way up with rifle-trenches, and the crowns of the 
principal hills presented heavy batteries. The county road 
leading from Yicksburg to Yazoo City ran along the foot of 
these hills, and served the enemy as a covered way along 
which he moved his artillery and infantry promptly to meet 
the Union forces at any point at which they attempted to 
cross this difficult bayou. Nevertheless, that bayou, with its 
levee parapet backed by the lines of rifle-pits, batteries, and 
frowning hills, had to be passed before they could reach Arm 
ground, and meet theu' enemy on any thing like fair terms. 

Steele, in his progress, followed substantially an old levee 
back from the Yazoo to the foot of the hills north of Thomp- 
son's Lake, but found that in order to reach the hard land he 
would have to cross a long corduroy causeway, with a battery 
enfilading it, others cross-firing it, with a similar line of rifle- 
pits and trenches before described. He skirmished with the 
enemy on the morning of the 28th, while the other columns 
were similarly engaged ; but on close and critical examination 
of the swamp and causeway in his front, with the batteries 
and rifle-pits well manned, he came to the conclusion that it 
was impossible for him to reach the county road without a 
fearful sacrifice of life. 

On liis reporting that he could not cross from his position 
to the one occupied by the centre, Sherman ordered him to 
retrace his steps and return in steamboats to the southwest 
side of Chickasaw bayou, and support Morgan's division. 
This he accomphshed during the night of the 28th, arriving 
in time to support him, and take part in the assault of the 29th. 



84: SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Morgan's division were evidently on tlie best of existing 
ways from Yazoo to firm land. He had attached to liis trains 
the pontoons with which to make a bridge, in addition to the 
ford or crossing, which was known to be in his front, and by 
which the enemy's picket had retreated. 

The pontoon bridge was placed during the night across a 
bayou, supposed to be the main bayou, but which turned out 
to be an inferior one, and it was therefore useless ; but the 
natural crossing remained, and Morgan was ordered to cross 
with his division, and carry the line of works to the summit of 
the hill by a determined assault. 

During the morning of the 28th a heavy fog enveloped the 
whole of the country. General Morgan advanced De Courcey's 
brigade and engaged the enemy : heavy firing of artillery and 
infantry was sustained, and his column moved on until he en- 
countered the real bayou, which again checked his progress, 
and was not passed until the nest day. 

At the point where Morgan L. Smith's division reached the 
bayou was a narrow sand strip with abattis thrown down by 
the enemy on our side, having the same deep boggy bayou 
with its levee parapet and system of cross-batteries and rifle- 
pits on the other side. 

To pass it in the front by the flank would have been utter 
destruction, for the head of the column would have been swept 
away as fast as it presented itself above the steep bank. 
Wliile reconnoitring it on the morning of the 28th, during the 
heavy fog, General Morgan L. Smith was shot in the hip by 
a chance rifle-bullet, and disabled, so that he had to be re- 
moved to the boats, and thus at a critical moment was lost 
one of the best and most daring leaders, a practical soldier 
and enthusiastic patriot. Brigadier-General David Stuart, 
who succeeded to his place and to the execution of his orders, 
immediately studied the nature of the ground in his front, saw 
all its difiiculties, and made the best possible disposition to 
pass over his division as soon as he should hear General Mor- 
gan engaged on his left. 

To his right General A. J. Smith had placed General Bur- 



THE ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 85 

bridge's brigade of bis division, witb orders to make rafts and 
cross over a portion of bis men, to dispose bis artillery so as 
to fire at tbe enemy across tbe bayou, and produce tbe efi'ect 
of a diversion. 

Landrum's brigade of A. J. Smitb's division occupied a bigb 
position on tbe main road, witb pickets and supports pusbed 
well forward into tbe tangled abattis witbin tbree-fourtbs of 
a mile of tbe enemy's forts, and in plain view of tbe town of 
Vicksburg. 

Tbe boats still lay at tbe place of debarkation, covered by 
tbe gunboats and four regiments of infantry, one of eacb di- 
vision. Sucb was tbe disposition of Sberman's forces during 
tbe nigbt of tbe 28tb. 

Tbe enemy's rigbt was a series of batteries or forts seven 
miles above us on the Yazoo, at tbe first bluff near Snyder's 
bouse, called Drumgould's Bluff ; bis left tbe fortified town of 
Vicksburg ; and bis line connecting tbese was near fourteen 
miles in extent, and was a natural fortification, strengtbened 
by a year's labor of thousands of negroes, directed by educated 
and skilful officers. 

Sherman's design was by a prompt and concentrated move- 
ment to break the centre near Chickasaw Creek, at the bead 
of a bayou of the same name, and once in position, to turn to 
the rigbt, Vicksburg, or left, Drumgould's. According to 
information then obtained he supposed tbe organized force of 
tbe enemy to amount to about fifteen thousand, which could 
be reinforced at the rate of about four thousand a day, pro- 
vided General Grant did not occupy all tbe attention of Pem- 
berton's forces at Grenada, or Eosecrans those of Bragg in 
Tennessee. 

Nothing bad yet been beard from General Grant, who was 
supposed to be pushing south ; or of General Banks, who was 
supposed to be ascending the Mississippi, but who in reabty 
bad but very recently reached New Orleans, and was engaged 
in gathering bis ofiicers there and at Baton Eouge, and in 
regulating the civil details of bis department. Time being all- 
important, Sherman then determined to assault the bills in 



86 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

front of Morgan on the morning of the 29tli, — Morgan's divi- 
sion to carry tlie position to the summit of the hill, Steele's 
division to suj)port him and hold the county road. General 
A. J. Smith was placed in command of his own first division, 
and M. L. Smith's second division, with orders to cross on the 
sand-spit, undermin'e the steep bank of the bayou on the fur- 
ther side, or carry at all events the levee parapet and first line 
of rifle-pits, to prevent a concentration on Morgan. It was 
nearly noon when Morgan was ready, by which time Blair's 
and Thayer's brigades of Steele's division were up with him, 
and took part in the assault, and Hovey's brigade was also 
near at hand. All the troops were massed as closely as possi- 
ble, and the supports were well on hand. 

The assault was made, and a lodgment eifected on the 
hard table-land near the county road, and the heads of the 
assaulting columns reached different points of the enemy's 
works ; but here met so withering a fire fi'om the rifle-pits, and 
cross-fire of grape and canister from the batteries, that the 
columns faltered, and finally fell back to the point of starting, 
leaving many dead, wounded, and prisoners in the hands of 
the enemy. 

General Morgan at first reported that the troops of his di- 
vision were not at all discouraged, though the losses in Blair's 
and De Courcey's brigades were heavy, and that he w^ould re- 
new the assault iti haK an hour. 

Sherman then urged General A. J. Smith to push his attack, 
though it had to be made across a narrow sand-bar, and up a 
narrow path in the nature of a breach, as a diversion in favor 
of Morgan, or a real attack, according to its success. During 
Morgan's progress, he crossed over the Sixth Missouri, covered 
by the Thirteenth Regulars deployed as sku-mishers up to the 
bank of the Bayou, protecting themselves as well as possible 
by fallen trees, and firing at any of the enemy's sharpshooters 
that showed a mark above the levee. All the ground was 
completely swept beforehand by the artillery, under the im- 
mediate supervision of Major E. Taylor, cliief of artillery. 
The Sixth Missouri crossed rapidly by companies, and lay 



THE ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 87 

under the bank of tlie Bayou with the enemy's sharpshooters 
over their heads within a few feet, so near that these sharp- 
shooters held out their muskets and fired down vertically 
upon our men. The orders were to undermine this bank and 
make a road up it ; but it was impossible, and after the repulse 
of Morgan's assault, Sherman ordered General A. J. Smith to 
rethe this regiment under cover of darkness, which was suc- 
cessfully done, though with heavy loss. 

Whilst this was going on, Burbridge was skirmishing across 
the Bayou in his front, and Landrum pushed his advance 
through the close abattis and entanglement of fallen timber 
close up to Vicksburg. "When the night of the 29th closed in 
we stood upon our original ground, and had suffered a re- 
pulse. During the night it rained very hard, and our men 
were exposed to it in the miry, swampy ground, sheltered 
only by their blankets and rubber ponchos, but during the 
following day it cleared off, and the weather became warm. 

After a personal examination of the various positions, Sher- 
man came to the conclusion that he could not break the ene- 
my's centre without being too much crippled to act with any 
vigor afterwards. New combinations having therefore be- 
come necessary, he proposed to Admiral Porter that the navy 
should cover a landing at some point close up to the Drum- 
gould's Bluff batteries, while he would hold the present 
ground, and send ten thousand choice troops to attack the 
enemy's right, and carry the batteries at that point ; which, if 
successful, would give us the substantial possession of the 
Yazoo River, and place Sherman in communication with Gen- 
eral Grant. Admiral Porter lent his hearty concurrence to 
this plan, and it was agreed that the expeditionary force 
should be embarked immediately after dark on the night of 
the 31st of December, and under cover of all the gunboats, 
proceed before day slowly and silently up to the batteries ; 
the troops there to land, storm the batteries, and hold them. 
Whilst this was going on, Sherman was to attack the enemy be- 
low, and hold him in check, preventing reinforcements going up 
to the bluff, and, in case of success, to move all his force thither. 



88 SHERMAN AKD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Steele's division and one brigade of Morgan L. Smith's 
division were designated and embarked ; the gunboats were all 
in position, and up to midnight every thing appeared favorable. 

The assault was to take place about four a. m. Sherman had 
aU his ofl&cers at then' posts, ready to act on the first sound 
of cannonading in the direction of Drumgould's Bluff; but 
about dayhght he received a note fi'om General Steele, stating 
that Admiral Porter had found the fog so dense on the river, 
that the boats could not move, and that the expedition must 
be deferred till another night. Before night of January 1, 
1863, he received a note from the admiral, statiug that inas- 
much as the moon would not set untU twenty-five minutes 
past five, the landing must be a dayhght affaii", which in his 
judgment would be too hazardous to try. 

Thus disappeared the only remaining chance of securing a 
lodgment on the ridge between the Yazoo and Black rivers, 
fi"om which to oj)erate upon Vicksburg and the railway to the 
east, as weU. as to secure the navigation of the Yazoo Kiver. 

One thu'd of the command had aheady embarked for this 
expedition, and the rest were bivouacked in low, swamjoy, tim- 
bered ground, which a single night's rain would have made a 
quagmire. Marks of overflow stained the trees from ten to 
twelve feet above their roots. A further attempt against the 
centre was deemed by all the brigade and division command- 
ers impracticable. 

It had now become e\ddent to all the commanders that for 
some cause unknown to them, the co-operating column under 
General Grant had failed. A week had elapsed since the 
time when it should have reached the rear of Yicksburg, yet 
nothing was heard from it. Sherman accordingly decided to 
abandon the attack and return to MiUiken's Bend, which had 
a large extent of clear land, houses for storage, good roads in 
the rear, plenty of corn and forage, and the same advantages 
as any other poiat for operating against the enemy inland, on 
the river below Yicksburg, or at any point above where he 
might attempt to interrupt the navigation of the Mississippi 
Eiver. 



THE ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG. 89 

On the morning of the 2d of January, the troops and 
materiel were embarked, and at 3 o'clock that afternoon the 
last of the transports, under convoy and protection of the 
gunboats, passed out of the Yazoo. At the mouth of that 
river. General Sherman met and reported to Major-General 
McClernand, who had come down on the steamer " Tigress," 
■with orders to assume command of the expedition. On arriv- 
ing at Milliken's Bend, on the 4th of January, 1863, Sherman 
at once relinquished the command to General McClernand, 
and announced the fact to the army in the following farewell 
order : 

" Pursuant to the terms of General Order No. 1, made this 
day by General McClernand, the title of our army ceases to 
exist, and constitutes in the future the Ai'my of the Missis- 
sippi, composed of two ' army corps,' one to be commanded 
by Gen. G. W. Morgan, and the other by myself. In relin- 
quishing the command of the Army of the Tennessee, and re- 
stricting my authority to my own ' corps,' I desire to express 
to all commanders, to the soldiers and officers recently oper- 
ating before Vicksbirrg, my hearty thanks for the zeal, alac- 
rity, and courage manifested by them on all occasions. "We 
failed in accompKshing one great purpose of our movement, 
the capturing of Yicksburg ; but we were part of a whole. 
Ours was but part of a combined movement, in which others 
were to assist. "We were on time. Unforeseen contingencies 
must have delayed the others. 

" "We have destroyed the Shreveport road, we have attacked 
the defences of Yicksburg, and pushed the attack as far as 
prudence would justify, and having found it too strong for our 
single column, we have drawn off in good order and good 
spirits, ready for any new move. A new commander is now 
here to lead you. He is chosen by the President of the United 
States, who is charged by the Constitution to maintain and 
defend it, and he has the undoubted right to select his own 
agents. I know that all good officers and soldiers will give 
him the same hearty support and cheerful obedience they have 



90 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

liitlierto given me. There are honors enough m reserve for all, 
and work enough too. Let each do his appropriate part, and 
our nation must in the end emerge from this dire conflict 
purified and ennobled by the fires which now test its strength 
and purity." 

The disgraceful surrender of Holly Springs, on the 20th of 
December, with its immense depot of supplies, essential to the 
movement of the column under General Grant, had delayed 
the march of that ofiicer, and unexpectedly demanded his at- 
tention in another quarter, while the enemy was thus enabled 
to concentrate for the defence of Vicksburg, behind positions 
naturally and artificially too strong to be carried by assault. 
Thus it was that the expedition under Sherman failed. In an 
ofl&cial communication, written after the capture of Vicksburg, 
General Grant says : " General Sherman's arrangement as 
commander of troops in the attack on Chickasaw Bluffs, last 
December, was admirable. Seeing the ground from the oppo- 
site side from the attack, afterwards, I saw the impossibility 
of makinof it successful." 



AKKANSAS POST. 91 



CHAPTEE YIII. 

ARKANSAS POST. 

MAJOE-GENERAii McClernand bronght with liim an order, 
issued bj the War Department, dividing the Ai'my of the 
Tennessee into four separate army corps, to be known as 
the Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth, and 
to be respectively commanded by Major-Generals John A. 
McClernand, WiUiam T. Sherman, Stephen A. Hurlbut, and 
James B. McPherson, while General Grant was to retain 
command of the whole. The army corps had now become 
the unit of administration and of field movements. Com- 
pletely organized, generally possessing within itseK all the 
elements of a separate army, its commander was enabled 
to dispose promptly of the gi-eat mass of administrative de- 
tails without the necessity of carrying them up to general 
headquarters, to breed delay and vexation and to distract the 
mind of the general-in-chief from the essential matters upon 
which his mind should have leisure to concentrate its energies. 

Immediately on assuming command, General McClernand 
assigned Brigadier-General George W. Morgan to the imme- 
diate command of his own corps, the Tlurteenth, composing 
the left wing, and consisting of A. J. Smith's division and 
Morgan's ovm diidsion, now to be commanded by Brigadier- 
General P; J. Osterhaus. 

Sherman's Fifteenth Corps, which was to constitute the 
right wing, comprised the Fhst Division, under the command 
of Brigadier-General Frederick Steele, and the Second Divi- 
sion, temporarily under the command of Brigadier-General 
David Stuart, in the absence of Brigadier-General Morgan L. 
Smith. 



92 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Steele's first division was now organized as follows : 

First brigade, Brigadier-General Frank P. Blair — ^Thirteenth 
Illinois, Twenty-ninth Missouri, Thirty-first Missouri, Thu-ty- 
second Missouri, Fifty-eighth Ohio, Thirtieth Missouri. 

Second brigade, Brigadier-General 0. E. Hovey — Seven- 
teenth Missouri, Twenty-fifth Iowa, Third Missouri, Seventy- 
sixth Ohio, Thhty-fii'st Iowa, Twelfth Missouri. 

Thu^l brigade, Brigadier-General John M. Thayer — Fourth 
Iowa, Thirty-fourth Iowa, Thirtieth Iowa, Twenty-sixth Iowa, 
Ninth Iowa, infantry. 

Artillery — First Iowa, Captain Griffiths ; Fourth Ohio, Cap- 
tain Hofiman, and First Missouri horse artillery. 

Cavalry — Thu-d lUinois, and a company of the Fifteenth 
Illinois. 

The second division, formerly Sherman's fifth division, of the 
Army of the Tennessee, consisted of the following named troops : 

Fu'st brigade. Colonel G. A. Smith, commanding — Eighth 
Missouri, Sixth Missouri, One Hundred and Thhteenth lUinois, 
One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois, Thirteenth United States. 

Second brigade. Colonel T. Kilby Smith, commanding — 
Fifty-fifth Illinois, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Ilhnois, 
Fifty-fourth Ohio, Eighty-thu'd Indiana, Fifty-seventh Ohio, 
infantry. 

Artillery — Companies A and B, First Illinois Light Artillery, 
and Eighth Ohio battery. 

Cavalry — Two companies of Thielman's Illinois battalion, 
and Company C, Tenth Missouri. 

On the 4th of January, 1863, the expedition sailed on the 
same transports that had brought them from Vicksburg, con- 
voyed by Admiral Porter's fleet of gunboats, to attack Fort 
Hiiidman, commonly known as Arkansas Post, an old French 
settlement situated on the left or north bank of the Arkansas 
Kiver, fifty mUes from its mouth and one hundred and seven- 
teen below Little Rock. This fort was a very strong bastioned 
work, constructed by the rebels at the head of a horse-shoe 
bend, on an elevated bluff which here touches the river and 
defines for some distance its left bank. The work has four 



ARKANSAS POST. 93 

bastion fronts, inclosing a space about one Imndred yards 
square, and a line of rifle-pits extended three-quarters of a mile 
across a neck of level ground to a bayou on the west and 
north. In the fort three heavy iron guns, one three-inch rifled 
gun, and four sis-pounder smooth bores were mounted at the 
sahents and flanks, and siS: twelve-pounder howitzers and three- 
inch rifles were distributed along the rifle-i)its. The garrison 
consisted of about five thousand men, under Brigadier-General 
T. J. Churchill, of the Confederate army. He was ordered by 
Lieutenant-General Holmes, commanding the rebel forces in 
Arkansas, to hold the post " till all are dead." 

The expedition was suggested by General Sherman, and the 
idea was promptly adopted by General McClernand. Its 
object was to employ the troops, which would otherwise have 
remained idly waiting for the full development of the combina- 
tions against Yicksburg, in opening the way to Little Eock ; 
thus placing the Arkansas River under the control of the Union 
armies, and putting an end to the dangerous detached opera- 
tions carried on from that point against our communications- 
on the Mississippi. The former river traversing and nearly 
bisecting Arkansas from northwest to southeast, is the key to 
the military possession of the State. 

The expedition moved up the White Eiver through the cut- 
off which unites its waters with those of the Arkansas, up the 
latter stream to Notrib's farm, three miles below Fort Hind- 
man, where the troops began to disembark at five o'clock on 
the afternoon of January 9th. By noon on the 10th the land- 
ing was completed, and the troops were on the march to invest 
the post. Sherman's Fifteenth Corps took the advance, and was 
to pass round the rear of the enemy's works, and form line with 
his right resting on the river above the fort. The Thirteenth 
Corps, under Brigadier-General Morgan, was to follow, and 
connecting with General Sherman's right, complete the invest- 
ment on the left. The gunboats opened a terrific fire upon 
the enemy during the afternoon, to distract his attention. By 
nightfall the troops were in position, Steele on the right, rest- 
ing on the bayou, Stuart next, A. J. Smith's division on Stuart's 



94 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

left, and Osterliaus's division on the extreme left near the river. 
During the night of the 9th and the following day Colonel D. 
"W. Lindsay's brigade of Osterhaus's di-vdsion had landed on the 
right bank of the river below Notrib's farm, and marching 
across the bend had taken up a position and planted a battery 
on that bank above the fort, so as to effectually prevent the 
succor of the garrison, or its escape by water. 

Admiral Porter kept up a furious bombardment untO. after 
dark. Early on the morning of the 11th, Sherman moved his 
coT-ps uito an easy position for assault, looking south, across 
ground encumbered by fallen trees and covered with low 
bushes. The enemy could be seen moving back and forth 
along his hues, occasionally noticing our presence by some 
ill-directed shots which did us httle harm, and accustomed the 
men to the sound of rifle-cannon. By ten A. m. Sherman re- 
ported to General McClernand in person that he was all ready 
for the assault, and only awaited the simultaneous movement 
of the gunboats. They were to silence the fort, and save the 
-troops from the enfilading fire of its artillery along the only 
possible line of attack. 

About half-past twelve notice was received that the gun- 
boats were in motion. Wood's Battery, Company A, Chicago 
Light Artillery, was posted on the road wliich led directly into 
the Post ; Banett's Battery B, First Illinois Artillery, was in 
the open space in the interval between Stuart's and Steele's 
divisions, and Steele had two of his batteries disposed in his 
fi'ont. Sherman's orders were, that as soon as the gunboats 
opened fire aU his batteries in position should commence firing, 
and continue until he commanded " cease firing," when, after 
three minutes' cessation, the infantry columns of Steele's and 
Stuart's divisions w^ere to assault the enemy's line of rifle-pits 
and defences. 

The gunboats opened about one p. m., and our field-batteries 
at once commenced firing, directing their shots at the enemy's 
guns, his line of defences, and more especially enfilading the 
road which led du'ectly into the fort, and which separated 
Morgan's line of attack from Sherman's. The gunboats could 



AEKAlfSAS POST. 95 

not be seen, and their progress had to be judged by the 
sound of theh^ fire, — at first slow and steady, but rapidly 
approaching the fort and enveloping it with a storm of shells 
and shot. The field-batteries continued their fire rapidly for 
about fifteen minutes, the enemy not replying, when Sherman, 
having withdra-uTi the skirmish line, ordered the firing to cease 
and the columns to advance to the assault. The infantry 
sprang forward with a cheer, rapidly crossed the hundred 
yards of clear space in their immediate fi'ont, and dashed into 
a belt of ground about three hundred yards wide, separating 
them from the enemy's parapets, shghtly cut up by gulleys and 
depressions, and covered with standing trees, brush, and fallen 
timber. There they encountered the fire of the enemy's ar- 
tillery and infantry, well directed from their perfect cover. 
The speed of our advance was checked, and afterwards became 
more cautious and prudent. By three P. M. Sherman's lines 
were within one hundred yards of the enemy's trenches, and 
flanking liim on our right, and completely enveloping his 
position. The gunboats could be seen close up to the fort, the 
admiral's flag directly under it. All artillery fire from the fort 
had ceased, and only occasionally could be seen a few of the 
enemy's infantry firing from its parapets ; but the strongest 
resistance continued in our immediate front, where the enemy's 
infantry was massed, comparatively safe from the gunboats, 
which were compelled to direct their fire well to the front, lest 
it should injure our own troops. A brisk fire of musketry 
was kept up along our whole front with an occasional discharge 
of artillery through the intervals of the infantry hues until four 
P. M., when the white flag appeared all along the enemy's hues. 
Sherman immediately ordered General Steele to push a brigade 
down the bayou on his right, to prevent the escape of the 
enemy. 

Simultaneously with Sherman's assault, Burbridge's brigade 
with the One Hundred and Eighteenth Illinois and Sixty-ninth 
Indiana, of Landrum's, and the One Hundred and Twentieth 
Ohio, of Colonel Sheldon's brigade, dashed forward under a 
deadly fire quite to the enemy's intrenchments ; the Sixteenth 



96 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Indiana, Lieutenant-Colonel John M. Orr, witli the Eighty- 
third Ohio, Lieutenant-Colonel Baldwin, of Burbridge's bri- 
gade, and the One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio, Colonel D. 
French, of Colonel Sheldon's brigade, being the first to enter 
the fort. Presenting himself at the entrance of the fort, Gen- 
eral Burbridge was halted by the guard, Avho denied that they 
had surrendered, until he called their attention to the white 
flag, and ordered them to ground their arms. 

Colonel Lindsay, as soon as a gunboat had passed above 
the fort, hastened with his brigade do^vTi the opposite shore, 
and oj)ened an oblique fire from Foster's two twenty, and 
Lieutenant "Wilson's two ten pounder Parrott's, into the 
enemy's hue of rifle-pits, carrying away his battle-flag and 
killing a number of his men. 

The fort had surrendered. With cheers and shouts our 
troops poured into the works. 

As soon as order could be restored, Brigadier-General A. 
J. Smith was assigned to the command of the fort itseK, and 
Brigadier-General David Stuart to the charge of the prisoners 
and the exterior defences. 

Our entire loss in killed was 129 ; in wounded, 831 ; and in 
missing, 17 ; total, 977. Sherman's corps lost 4 officers and 
75 men killed, and 34 officers and 406 men 'Wounded ; making 
a total of 519. 

General Churchill, in his official report, dated Eichmond, 
May 6, 1863, to Lieutenant-General Holmes, commanding the 
Department of Ai-kansas, states that his loss "w^ill not ex- 
ceed — lolled, and 75 or 80 wounded." He estimates the 
Union force at 50,000, his own at 3,000, and our loss at from 
1,500 to 2,000. 

By the surrender there fell into our hands 5,000 men, in- 
cluding three entire brigades of the enemy, commanded re- 
spectively by Colonels Garland, Deshler, and Dunnington ; 
seventeen pieces of cannon ; three thousand serviceable small- 
arms ; forty-six thousand rounds of ammunition ; and five 
hundred and sixty-three animals. 

After sending the prisoners to St. Louis, having destroyed 



ARKANSAS POST. 97 

tlie defences and all buildings used for military purposes, on 
the 15th of January the troops re-embarked on the transports 
and proceeded to Napoleon, Arkansas, whence on the 17th, in 
obedience to orders received from Major-General Grant, they 
returned to Milliken's Bend. Sherman had been in faA'or of 
taking advantage of a rise in the Ai'kansas to threaten Little 
Eock, and force all scattered bands of the enemy to seek 
safety south of that river ; but General McClernund was un- 
willing to take so great a responsibility in addition to that he 
had already incurred, by entering upon so important an enter- 
prise without orders. 

In noticing the services of the subordinate commanders, 
General McClernand remarks : " General Sherman exhibited 
his usual activity and enterprise ; General Morgan ^^roved his 
tactical skill and strategic talent ; while Generals Steele, 
Smith, Osterhaus, and Stuart, and the several brigade com- 
manders displayed the fitting quahties of brave and successful 
oflScers." 

At Napoleon, Sherman was joined by the brigade of Brig- 
adier-General Hugh Ewing, which had been on the way to 
join General Rosecrans ; but that officer having just defeated 
Bragg in the desperate and decisive action of Stone River, no 
longer needed reinforcements. Ewing' s command was as- 
signed to Morgan L. Smith's second division, as the third 
brigade of that division. The effective force of the Fifteenth 
CoriDS was now fifteen thousand nino hundred and nine men 
of all arms. 

7 



98 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS? 



CHAPTEE IX. 

THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBUEG. 

On tlie 19tli of January, Slierman proceeded witli his corps 
to Young's Point, opposite Vicksburg, and reported to Grant. 
Here he was joined by the division of Brigadier-General J. M. 
Tuttle, consisting of Mower's, Buckland's, and Woods' bri- 
gades. From the moment of taking personal command of the 
army at Milhken's Bend, General Grant became convinced that 
Vicksburg could only be taken from the south. He immedi- 
ately caused work to be prosecuted on the canal begun the pre- 
vious summer by Brigadier-General Thomas Williams, under 
the orders of Major-General Butler, with the view of effecting 
an artificial cut-off across the peninsula opposite Vicksburg, 
through which transports, troops, and supplies might safely 
pass to the river below the enemy's batteries at that place. 
Somewhat later he also caused a channel to be cut through 
the west bank into Lake Pro\ddence, -with the design of pass- 
ing down through Bayou Baxter, Bayou Macon, and the 
Tensas, Wachita, and Bed rivers ; and a third canal through 
the Yazoo Pass into the Coldwater by means of which troops 
might enter the Tallahatchie, and thence descending the 
Yazoo, land on the high ground above Haines' Bluff. For 
various reasons, none of these plans succeeded. 

Wliile the gunboats and troops sent through Yazoo Pass 
were delayed near Greenwood at the junction of the Yalla- 
buslia and Tallahatchie, where the rebels had taken advan- 
tage of a bend in the river to construct a formidable work, 
Admiral Porter reconnoitred still another route. Seven miles 
above the mouth of the Yazoo, Steele's bayou empties into 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. 99 

that river ; thirty miles up Steele's bayou, Black bayou enters 
it from Deer Creek, six miles distant ; ascending Deer Creek 
eighteen miles, Rolling Fork connects it with the Big Sun- 
flower Eiver, ten miles distant ; and descending the Big Sun- 
flower fortj^-one miles, you again enter the Yazoo, sixty miles 
from its mouth. By taking this course, the troops and gun- 
boats would reach a strong position between Haines' Bluff 
and Greenwood ; the enemy's forces at the latter point would 
be placed between two strong columns of the Union army, and 
would be compelled to fall back on Vicksburg ; one of the most 
important sources of supphes would be lost to the enemy, and 
a valuable line of operations gained for us. Satisfying him- 
seK by a personal reconnoissance, in company with Admiral 
Porter, that the chances of success were sufficient to warrant 
so important an undertaking, on the 16th of March, General 
Grant ordered General Sherman to take Stuart's second divi- 
sion of the Fifteenth Corps, open the route, in co-operation with 
the gunboats, and seize some tenable position on the east 
bank of the Yazoo, whence to operate against Vicksburg and 
the forts at Haines' Bluff. Sherman started immediately with 
the Eighth Missouri regiment, and a detachment of pioneers, 
to open the bayou, and the next morning was followed by the 
remainder of the troops, who, in order to economize trans- 
portation, ascended the Mississippi to Eagle's Bend, where 
Steele's bayou approaches within a mile of the river, connected 
with it by Mud bayou, and there disembarking, marched across 
by land to Steele's bayou. The 18th and the forenoon of the 
19th were spent in bridging Mud bayou, which was greatly 
swollen by a crevasse. Marching to Steele's bayou, but one 
transport was found there, and the three following days were 
spent in transporting the troops up the bayou, in such boats 
as became available. At the mouth of Black bayou the troops 
were transferred from the steamers to coal barges and takt n 
in tow by a tug. Admiral Porter had started on the 14th of 
March with the gunboats Louisville, Lieutenant-Commander 
Owen ; Cincinnati, Lieutenant-Commanding Bache ; Caronde- 
lef, Lieutenant-Commanding Murphy ; Mound City, Lieuten- 



100 SHERMAT^ AND HIS CAilPAlGNS. 

ant-Commanding "Wilson ; Pittshurgh, Lieutenant-Comm an Jmg 
Hoel, four raortar-boats, and four tugs. The fleet easily 
passed up Steele's bayou, which, though very narrow ^ con- 
tained thirty feet of water ; but Black's bayou was found to 
be obstructed by fallen and overhanging trees, which had to 
be pulled out by the roots and pushed aside before the gun- 
boats could pass, and the frequent bends were so ab?'upt that 
the boats had to be heaved around them, with hardly a foot of 
room to spare. Twenty-four hours were occupied m going 
four miles into Deer Creek. The gunboats entered Deei Creek 
safely, and pushed their way through the overhanging branches 
of cypress and willow, with which it was obstructed, at the 
rate of about a mile an hour at first, gradually diminishing as 
the difficulties increased, to half a mile an hour. When within 
seven miles of the Rolling Fork, the Confederate agents and 
some of the planters forcibly comiDclled the negroes to cut 
do^Ti immense trees directly across the Creek, for the purpose 
of delaying the advance. Removing these artificial obstruc- 
tions, in addition to the natural ones, with almost incredible 
labor, when within three miles of Rolling Fork, smoke was 
discovered in the direction of the Yazoo, and information 
reached Admiral Porter that the enemy was advancing with 
five thousand men, to dispute his progress. The Caronddef, 
Lieutenant-Commanding Murphy, was sent ahead to hold the 
entrance to Rolling Fork, and on the night of the 20th March 
found the gunboats within eight hundred yards of that stream, 
with only two or three trees and a narrow lane of willows be- 
tween them and open navigation. The next morning about 
six hundred of the enemy, with a battery of field-piece>?, made 
their appearance, and began to annoy the fleet by sharj)- 
shooters, and to fell trees in front and rear. Sherman had 
not yet arrived. The road lay along the banks of the bayous, 
and he had found the banks overflowed below Hill's planta- 
tion on Deer Creek, at the htacl of Black bayou, so that the 
troops had to be transported twenty-eight miles to the mouth 
of Black bayou, on two small steamers, there transferred to a 
single coal-barge, and towed by a small tug two miles, to the 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBUEG. IQl 

first dry ground. Tlie wooden transports encountered the 
same difficulties that met the iron-clad gunboats, without the 
same means of overcoming them. It was a slow process. 
Sherman was now at Hill's plantation, with onl}^ three regi- 
ments. But upon receipt of a note from Admiral Porter, 
stating his condition, on the morning of the 21st, Colonel 
Smith, with the Sixth and Eighth Missouri and One Hundred 
and Sixteenth Illinois regiments of his brigade, was at once 
sent forward, and by a forced march of twenty-one miles over 
a terrible swamp road, succeeded in reaching the gunboats, to 
find them almost completely surrounded by the entire force 
sent out by the enemy through the Yazoo, and unable to move 
in either direction. The creek was so narrow that the broad- 
side guns were quite useless, and only one bow-gun could be 
brought to bear by either of the gunboats, and the steep 
banks required this to be fired at too great an angle to have 
much effect. The enemy had established a battery of fifteen 
guns in front. Colonel Smith disposed his force to protect 
the fleet, and prevent the felling of trees in the rear. On the 
morning of the 22d, after removing about forty of the felled 
trees, the enemy appeared in large force in rear of the gun- 
boats, and opened fire with artillery. The gunboats replied, 
and soon drove them off. The enemy then attacked Colonel 
Smith's brigade, and after a sharp skirmish, was again repulsed. 
When the firing began, Sherman, who had by great exertions 
succeeded in getting up the remainder of Colonel Giles A. 
Smith's brigade, consisting of the Thirteenth Eegulars and One 
Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois, as well as the Eighty-third 
Indiana, One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois, Fifty-fourth and 
Fifty-seventh Ohio, of Colonel T. Kilby Smith's brigade, under 
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Rice, Fifty-seventh Ohio, 
was advancing with them by a forced march, having led the 
troops by candlelight through the dense canebrake, and was 
six miles distant. Hearing the guns, he pressed rapidly for- 
ward in the direction of the sound, and arrived just in time to 
meet and disperse the enemy, who were preparing to pass round 
the rear of the boats, and again dispute their movement. The 



102 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

fleet was saved. The expedition miglit now have been con- 
tinued, but officers and men of army and navy were alike 
exhausted ; the army had not brought rations for so long a 
work, and the navy proA-ision-boat was too large to get through ; 
moreover, the enemy had had time to prej)are, and full indi- 
cations of the direction and progress of the movement. There 
was nothing to do but to return. All of the 22d and 23d, and 
part of the 24th of March, was consumed in tediously retracing 
the route to Hill's plantation. The enemy, kept at bay by the 
army, did not molest the gunboats further. At Hill's the ex- 
pedition rested on the 25th, and on the 26th the fleet passed 
down, and in accordance with orders received from General 
Grant, Sherman returned with his troops to Young's Point. 

" The expedition failed," says General Grant, " more from 
want of knowledge as to what would be required to open this 
route than from any impracticabihty in the navigation of the 
streams and bayous through which it was proposed to pass. 
Want of this knowledge led the expedition on until difficulties 
were encountered, and then it would become necessary to 
send back to Young's Point for the means of removing them. 
This gave the enemy time to remove forces to effectually 
checkmate further progress, and the expedition was withdrawn 
when within a few hundred yards of free and open navigation 
to the Yazoo." 

Admiral Porter also, in his official report, speaks of the 
want of means of moving the troops through the bayous as 
the chief difficulty ; " for," he remarks, " there were never yet 
any two men who would labor harder than Generals Grant 
and Sherman to forward an expedition for the overtlu'ow of 
Vicksburg." He continues : " The army officers worked hke 
horses to enable them to accomphsh what was desired. . . . 
No other general could have done better, or as well, as Sher- 
man, but he had not the means for this peculiar kind of trans- 
portation." 

General Grant now determined to march his army by land 
to New Carthage, twenty-three miles below Milliken's Bend, 
to run the transports past the batteries or through the canal, 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. 103 

should the latter course prove feasible, to cross the river, and 
to attack Yicksburg from the south. The movement was com- 
menced by McClernand's Thirteenth Army Corps on the 29th 
of March. New Carthage was found to be an island, in conse- 
quence of the breakage of the levees, and the march had to be 
continued twelve mUes further to Perkins' plantation. The 
roads were found to be level, but very bad, and the movement 
was necessarily slow. Over these roads the supplies of ord- 
nance and provisions had to be transported thirty-five miles in 
wagons. 

On the night of the 16th April, Acting Rear-Admiral Porter, 
who had entered with alacrity and energy into the general's 
plans, ran the Yicksburg batteries with his fleet and three 
transports carrying stores, and protected by hay and cotton. 
One of the transports only was lost, though all the boats were 
frequently struck. A few days later, five more transports, 
similarly prepared, and towing twelve barges, ran the batteries 
safely, a sixth being sunk, and half the barges disabled. The 
crews of the transports consisted of volunteers from the army, 
picked out of many hundreds of officers and men of the army, 
who offered themselves for this dangerous service. The 
limited amount of water transportation available below Yicks- 
burg now rendered it necessary for the army to march by a 
cii'cuitous route, avoiding the flooded lands, thirty-five miles 
further to Hard Times, thus lengthening the line of communi- 
cation with MiUiken's Bend to seventy miles. The final orders 
of General Grant for the movement, issued on the 20th of 
April, gave McClernand's Thirteenth Corps the right, Mc- 
Pherson's Seventeenth Corj)s the centre, and Sherman's Fif- 
teenth Corps the left, and directed the army to move by the 
right flank, no faster, however, than supplies and ammunition 
could be transported to them. On the 26th of April, when it 
was discovered that the march must be continued below New 
Carthage, General Grant sent orders to General Sherman to 
wait until the roads should improve, or the canals be finished ; 
and, on the 28th, he notified Sherman that the folloTving day 
was fixed upon for attacking Grand Gulf, and suggested that 



104 sher:»ian and his CA]\IPAIGNS. 

a simultaneous feint on tlie enemy's batteriey on tlie Yazoo, 
near Haines' Bluff, would be most desirable, pro^dded it 
could be made without the ill-effect on the army and the 
country of an apparent repulse. The object was to make as 
great a show as possible, in order to prevent reinforcements 
beino- sent from Vicksburg to the assistance of the forces 
which would have to be encountered at Grand GuK. " The 
ruse," says General Grant, "succeeded admirably." In his 
official report, dated May 21st, 1863, convinced that the army 
could distinguish a feint from a real attack by succeeding 
events, and that the country would in due season recover 
from the effect, Sherman gave the necessary orders, embarked 
Blair's second division on ten steamboats, and about 10 a. M. 
on the 29th April, proceeded to the mouth of the Yazoo, where 
be found the flag-boat Black Hawk, Captain Breese, with the 
Choctaw and De Kalb, iron-clads, and the Tyler, and several 
smaller wooden boats of the fleet, already with steam up, pre- 
pared to co-operate in the proposed demonstration against 
Haines' Bluff. 

The expedition at once proceeded up the Yazoo in order ; 
lay for the night of April 29th at the mouth of Chickasaw 
bayou, and early next morning proceeded to within easy range 
of the enemy's batteries. 

The gunboats at once engaged the batteries, and for four 
hours a vigorous demonstration was kept up. Towards evening, 
Sherman ordered the division of troops to disembark in full 
view of the enemy, and seemingly prepare to assault ; but he 
knew full well that there was no road across the submerged 
field that lay between the river and the bluff. As soon as the 
troops were fairly out on the levee, the gunboats resumed their 
fire, and the enemy's batteri '.s rephed with spirit. The enemy 
could be seen moving guns, artillery, and infantry back and 
forth, and evidently expecting a real attack. Keeping up ap- 
pearances until night, the troops were re-embarked. During 
the next day similar movements were made, accompanied by 
reconnoissances of all the country on both sides of the Yazoo. 

While there, orders came from General Grant to hurry for- 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. 105 

ward to Grand Gulf. Dispatching orders to the divisions of 
Steele and Tuttle at once to march for Grand Gulf via Ilich- 
mond, Sherman prolonged the demonstration till night, and 
quietly dropped back to his camp at Young's Point. No casu- 
alties were sustained, except one man of the Eighth Missouri, 
slightly ^'ounded. 

In the mean time, as many of the Thirteenth Army Corps as 
could be got on board the transports and barges were embark- 
ed, and w^ere moved down to the front of Grand Gulf, for the 
purpose of landing and storming the enemy's works as soon 
as the navy should have silenced the guns. Admiral Porter's 
fleet opened at eight A. m. on the 29th of April, and gallantly 
kept up a vigorous fire at short range for more than five hours ; 
by which time General Grant, who witnessed the engagement 
from a tug-boat, became convinced that the enemy's guns were 
too elevated to be silenced, and his fortifications too strong to 
be taken from the water-fi'ont. He at once ordered the troops 
back to Hard Times, there to disembark and march across the 
pomt to the plain immediately below Grand Gulf. During the 
night, under cover of the fire of the gunboats, all the trans- 
ports and barges ran safely past the batteries. They were 
immediately followed by the fleet, and at daylight, on the 30th, 
the work of ferrpng the troops over to Bruinsburg was com- 
menced. The Thirteenth Corps was started on the road to 
Port Gibson as soon as it could draw three days' rations, and 
the Seventeenth Corps followed as fast as it was landed on the 
east bank. The enemy was met in force near Port Gibson at 
two o'clock on the afternoon of the 1st of May, was driven back 
on the following day, was pursued across the Bayou Pierre, 
and eight miles beyond the north fork of the same bayou, both 
which streams were bridged by McPherson's corps ; and on 
the 3d of May, with slight skirmishing all day, was pushed to 
and across the Kig Black Eiver, at Hankinson's Ferry. Find- 
ing here that the enemy had evacuated Grand Gulf, and that 
we were already fifteen miles from that place on the direct 
road to either Vicksburg or Jackson, General Grant halted 
his army to wait for wagons, supj)hes and Sherman's corps, 



IQQ SHERMAJ^ AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and went back to Grand Gulf in person, to move tlie dejDot of 
supplies to tliat point. 

Slierman reached Young's Point on the night of May 1st. 
On the folloAving morning, the second division, now com- 
manded by General Blair, moved up to Milliken's Bend to 
garrison that place until reheved by troops ordered fi'om 
Slemphis for that purpose; and at the same time, General 
Sherman himseK, with Steele's and Tuttle's divisions, took 
up the line of march to join General Grant. They reached 
Hard Times at noon on the 6th, crossed the Mississippi to 
Grand GuK during the night and the following day, and on 
the 8th marched eighteen miles to Hankinson's Ferry, rehev- 
ing Crocker's division and enabling it to join McPherson's 
corps. General Grant's orders for a general advance had 
been issued the day previous, and the movement had already 
begun. McPherson was to take the right-hand road by Eocky 
Springs and Utica to Ea^^mond, and thence to Jackson ; 
McClernand, the left-hand road, through Willow Sj)rings, keep- 
ing as near the Black Biver as possible ; Sherman to move on 
Edwards' Station, and both he and McClernand to strike the 
raih'oad between Edwards' Station and Bolton. At noon on 
the 10th, Sherman destroyed the floating bridge over the Big 
Black and marched to Big Sandy ; on the 11th he reached 
Auburn, and on the morning of the 12th encountered and dis- 
persed a small force of the enemy endeavoring to obstruct the 
crossing of Fourteen Mile Creek. Pausing for the pioneers, 
to make a new crossing in heu of a bridge burned by the 
enemy's rear-guard, towards evening Slierman met General 
Grant on the other side of Fourteen Mile Creek, and was 
ordered to encamp there, Steele's division towards Edwards' 
Depot and Tuttle's towards Eixvmond. During the night, news 
was received that McPherson, with the Seventeenth Corps, 
had the same day met and defeated two brigades of the enemy 
at Eaymond, and that the enemy had retreated upon Jackson, 
where reinforcements were constantly arriving, and where 
General Joseph E. Johnston was hourly expected to take per- 
sonal command. 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBUEG. 107 

Determining to make sure of Jackson, and to leave no 
enemj in liis rear, if it could be avoided, General Grant at 
once changed liis orders to McClernand and Sherman, and 
directed them to march iipon Raymond. On the 13th, Mc- 
Pherson moved to Clinton, Sherman to a parallel position at 
Mississippi Springs, and McClernand to a point near Eaymond. 
Having communicated during the night, so as to reach their 
destination at the same hour, on the 14th, Sherman and Mc- 
Pherson marched fourteen miles, and at noon engaged the 
enemy near Jackson. At this time McClernand occupied 
Chnton, Mississippi Springs, and Raymond, each with one 
di\dsion, and had Blaii-'s division of Sherman's corps near 
New Auburn, and had halted, according to orders, within 
supporting distance. The enemy marched out with the bulk 
of his forces on the Chnton road and engaged McPherson's 
corps about two and a haK miles from Jackson, while a small 
force of artillery and infantry took a strong position in front 
of Sherman, about the same distance from the city, on the 
Mississippi Springs road, and endeavored by unusual activity, 
aided by the nature of the ground, to create the appearance 
of great strength, so as to delay Sherman's advance until the 
contest with McPherson should be decided. 

During the day it rained in torrents, and the roads, which 
had been very dusty, became equally muddy, but the troops 
pushed on, and about 10 a. m. were witliin three miles of Jack- 
son. Then were heard the gTins of McPherson to the left, and 
the cavalry advance reported an enemy in front, at a small 
bridge at the foot of the ridge along which the road led. 

The enemy opened briskly with a battery. Hastily recon- 
noitring the position, Sherman ordered Mower's and Matthie's, 
formerly Woods', brigades of Tuttle's division, to deploy forward 
to the right and left of the road, and Buckland's to close up. 
Waterhouse's and Spohre's batteries were placed on com- 
manding gi'ound and soon silenced the enemy's guns, when he 
rethxd about half a mUe into the skirt of woods in front of the 
intrenchments at Jackson. Mower's brigade followed him up, 
and he soon took refuge behind the intrenchments. 



108 SHERMAN AND HIS CAilPAIGNS. 

The stream, owing to its precipitous banks, could only be 
passed on the bridge, which the enemy did not attempt to 
destroy, and forming the troops in similar order beyond the 
bridge, only that Mower's brigade, from the course he took in 
following the enemy, occupied the ground to the left of the 
road, and Matthie's brigade to the right, the two batteries in 
the centre, and Buckland's brigade in reserve. 

As the troops emerged fr-om the woods in their front, and 
as far to their left as they could see, appeared a line of in- 
trenchments, and the enemy kept up a brisk fire with artillery 
fr'om the points that enfiladed the road. In order to ascertain 
the nature of the flanks of tliis line of intrenchments, Sher- 
man dhected Captain Pitzman, acting engineer, to take the 
Ninety-fifth Ohio, and make a detour to the right, to see what 
was there. While he was gone Steele's division closed up. 
About one p. m. Captain Pitzman returned, reporting that he 
found the enemy's intrenchments abandoned at the point 
where he crossed the raih'oad, and had left the Ninety-fifth 
Ohio there in possession. Sherman at once ordered General 
Steele to lead his whole di\asion into Jackson by that route, 
and as soon as the cheers of his men were heard, Tuttle's 
division was ordered in by the main road. The enemy's in- 
fantry had escaped to the north by the Canton road, but we 
captured about two hundred and fifty prisoners, with all the 
enemy's artillery (eighteen guns), and much ammunition and 
valuable pubHc stores. Meanwhile, after a warm engagement, 
lasting more than two hours, McPherson had badly defeated 
the main body of the enemy, and driven it north. The pur- 
suit was kept up until nearly dark. 

Disposing the troops on the outskirts of the town, in obe- 
dience to a summons from General Grant, Sherman met him 
and General McPherson near the State-house, and received 
orders to occupy the line of rifle-pits, and on the following 
day to destroy effectually the raifroad tracks in and about 
Jackson, and all the property belonging to the enemy. Ac- 
cordingly, on the morning of the 15th of May, Steele's divi- 
sion was set to work to destroy the raih-oad and property to 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKRSBURG. 109 

the south and east, inchicliug Pearl Eiver Bridge, and Tuttle's 
division to the north and west. The railroads were destroyed 
bj burning the ties and warping the iron for a distance of four 
miles east of Jackson, three south, three north, and ten west. 

In Jackson the arsenal buildings, the government foundry, 
the gun-carriage estabhshment, including the carriages for two 
complete six-gun batteries, stable, carpenter and paint shops, 
were destroyed. The penitentiary was burned, as is supposed, 
by some convicts who had been set fi-ee by the Confederate 
authorities. A valuable cotton factory was also burned to the 
ground, as machinery of that kind could so easily be convert- 
ed into hostile uses ; and the United States could better afford 
to compensate the owners for their property, and feed the 
poor famihes thus thrown out of employment, than to spare 
the property. Other buildings were destroyed in Jackson by 
some mischievous soldiers, who could not be detected, includ- 
ing the Cathohc church and the Confederate hotel — the former 
accidentally, and the latter from malice. 

Immediately on entering Jackson, General Grant had or- 
dered McClernand with his corps and Blair's division of Sher- 
man's corps to face towards Bolton, and march by roads con- 
verging near that place to Edward's Station. McPherson was 
also directed to retrace his route to Chnton and follow Mc- 
Clernand. Early on the morning of the 16th, hearing that 
Pemberton, with a force estimated by the enemj^ at ten bat- 
teries of artillery and twenty-five thousand men, was taking 
up positions to attack him. General Grant, who had intended 
to leave one division of the Eifteenth Corps a day longer in 
Jackson, ordered Sherman to bring up his entire command at 
once, and move with all possible dispatch until he should 
come up with the main body near Bolton. At the same time 
McClernand was ordered to move fr6m the position reached 
on the night of the 15th, near Bolton, upon Edward's Station, 
and McPherson was ordered to join him. 

Sherman received his orders at ten minutes past seven A. M. 
In an hour his advance division, Steele's, was irumotion, Tuttle's 
followed at noon, and by night the corps had marched twenty 



XIO SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

miles to Bolton. During tlie day the main body met the 
enemy in strong force at Champion Hills, and after a terrible 
contest of several hours' duration, fought chiefly by Hovey's 
division of McClernand's corps, and Logan's and Quimby's 
divisions of McPherson's corps, defeated him, capturing a 
large number of guns and prisoners, and cutting off the whole 
of Loring's division from Pemberton's army. That night 
Sherman was ordered to turn his corps to the right and move 
on Bridgeport, where Blair's division was to join him. On 
the morning of the 17th, McClernand and McPherson con- 
tinued the pursuit along the railroad, the former in advance. 
In a brilliant affair, Lawler's brigade, of Carr's division, Mc- 
Clernand's corps, stormed the enemy's works on the east bank 
of the Big Black, defending the crossing of that stream, and 
captured the entire garrison, with seventeen guns. The enemy 
immediately burned the bridge over the Big Black, and thus 
finally isolated his forces on the west bank. At noon, Sher- 
man reached Bridgeport, where Blair met him with his divi- 
sion and the pontoon train, which was the only one in the 
entire army. With trifling opposition the pontoon bridge was 
laid by night, and Blair's and Steele's divisions passed over, 
followed by Tuttle's division in the morning. During the 
night of the 17th, McClernand and McPherson bridged the 
Big Black, and by eight a. m., on the 18th, began to cross, the 
former on the Jackson and Yicksburg road, the latter above 
it. McClernand marched to Mount Albans and there turned 
to the left, on the Baldv/in's Ferry road. McPherson came 
into the same road with Sherman, and turned to the left, where, 
as will be presently seen, the latter turned to the right, at the 
fork of the Bridgeport road, within three and a half' miles of 
Vicksburg. 

Starting at daybreak, Sherman pushed rapidly forward, and 
by half-past nine A. M., of May 18th, the head of his column 
reached the Benton road and commanded the Yazoo, inter- 
posing a superior force between the enemy at Yicksburg and 
the forts on the Yazoo. Besting a sufficient time to enable the 
column to close up, Sherman pushed forward to the point 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. HI 

where the road forks, and sending out on each road the 
Thirteenth Eegulars to the right, and the Eighth Missouri to 
the left, with a battery at the fork, awaited General Grant's 
arrival. He very soon came up, and directed Sherman to 
operate on the right, McPherson on the centre, and McCler- 
nand on the left. Leaving a sufficient force on the main road 
to hold it till McPherson came up, Sherman pushed the head 
of his column on this road till the skirmishers were within 
musket-range of the defences of Yicksburg. Here he disposed 
Blair's division to the fi'ont, Tuttle's in support, and ordered 
Steele's to follow a blind road to the right till he reached the 
Mississippi. By dark his advance was on the bluffs, and 
early next morning he reached the Haines' Bluff road, getting 
possession of the enemy's outer works, camps, and many 
prisoners left behind during their hasty evacuation, and had 
his pickets up within easy range of the enemy's new line of 
defences. By eight a. m. of May 19th we had encompassed 
the enemy to the north of Vicksburg, our right resting on the 
Mississippi Eiver, within xiew of our fleets at the mouth of the 
Yazoo and Young's Point ; Yicksburg was in plain sight, and 
nothing separated the two armies but a space of about four 
hundred yards of very difficult ground, cut up by almost im- 
practicable ravines and the enemy's line of intrenchmcnts. 
Sherman ordered the Fourth Iowa Cavalry to proceed rapidly 
up to Haines' Bluff and secure possession of the place, it being 
perfectly open to the rear. By four p. m. the cavalry were on the 
high bluff" behind, and Colonel Swan, finding that the place 
had been evacuated, dispatched a company to secure it. 
Communication was opened with the fleet at Young's Point 
and the mouth of the Yazoo, and bridges and i«oads made to 
bring wp ammunition and provisions from the mouth of the 
Chickasaw bayou, to which point supply-boats had been 
ordered by General Grant. Up to that time, Sherman's men 
had literally lived upon the country, having left Grand GuK 
May 8th with three days' rations in their haversacks, and 
having received little or nothing from the commissary until 
the 18th. 



X12 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

The three corps being in position, and Vicksburg as com- 
pletely invested as our strength admitted, and, relying upon 
the demoralization of the enemy, in consequence of his re- 
peated and disastrous defeats outside of the works. General 
Grant ordered a general assault to take place at two o'clock 
in the afternoon of the 19th. At that hour, Blair's division 
moved forward, Swing's and Giles Smith's brigades on the 
right of the road, and Kilby Smith's brigade on the left, 
with artillery disposed on, the right and left to cover the 
point where the road enters the enemy's intrenchments. 
Tuttle's division was held on the road, with Buckland's bri- 
gade deployed in line to the rear of Blair and the other 
two brigades under cover. At the appointed signal the 
line advanced, but the ground to the right and left was 
so impracticable, being cut up in deep chasms, filled with stand- 
ing and fallen timber, that the hue was slow and ii-regular in 
reaching the trenches. The Thirteenth Infantry, on the left of 
Giles Smith, reached the works first, and planted its colors on 
the exterior slope ; its commander. Captain Washington, was 
mortally wounded, and five other ofiicers, and seventy-seven 
men, out of two hundred and fifty, killed or wounded. The 
Eighty-third Indiana, Colonel Spooner, and the One Hundred 
and Twenty-seventh Illinois, Colonel Eldridge, attained the 
same position nearly at the same time, held their ground, and 
fired upon any head that presented itseK above the parapet ; 
but it was impossible to enter. Other regiments gained posi- 
tion to the right and left close up to the parapet ; but night 
found them outside the works, unsuccessful. As soon as dark- 
ness closed in, Sherman ordered them back a short distance, 
where the formation of the ground gave a partial shelter, 
to bivouac for the night. McClernand and McPherson only 
succeeded in gaining advanced positions under cover. 

Spending the 20th and 21st in placing the artillery in 
commanding positions, in perfecting communications, and 
in bringing up supplies to the troops — who, ha\dng now 
been marching and fighting for twenty days on about 
five days' rations from the commissary department, were 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. 113 

beginning to suffer for want of bread — on tlie afternoon 
of the latter day, General Grant issued orders for a second 
assault to be made simultaneously, by heads of columns, at ten 
o'clock on the morning of the 22d of May. The three corps 
commanders set their time by his. Precisely at the appointed 
hour, and simultaneously along the whole front, the assault 
commenced. 

In Sherman's corps, Blair's division was placed at the head 
of the road, Tuttle's in support, and General Steele was to 
make his attack at a point in his front about half a mile to 
the right. The troops were grouped so that the movement 
could be connected and rapid. The road Hes on the crown 
of an interior ridge, rises over comparatively smooth ground 
along the edge of the ditch of the right face of the enemy's 
bastion, and enters the parapet at the shoulder of the bas- 
tion. No men could be seen in the enemy's works, except oc- 
casionally a sharpshooter, who would show his head and 
quickly discharge his piece. A line of joicked skirmishers 
was placed to keep them down. A volunteer storming party 
of a hundred and fifty men led the column, carrying boards 
and poles to bridge the ditch. This, -svith a small interval, 
was followed in order by Ewing's, Giles Smith's, and Kilby 
Smith's brigades, bringing up the rear of Blair's division. 
All marched by the flank, following a road by which the 
men were partially sheltered, until it was necessary to take 
the crown of the ridge and expose themselves to the full view 
of the enemy. The storming party dashed up the road at the 
double-quick, followed by Ewing's brigade, the Thirtieth Ohio 
leading, while the artillery of Wood's, Barrett's, Waterhouse's, 
Spoor's, and Hart's batteries kept a concentric fire on the bas- 
tion constructed to command tliis approach. The storming 
party reached the saUent of the bastion, and passed towards 
the sally-port. Then rose from every part commanding it a 
double rank of the enemy, and poured on the head of the col- 
umn a terrific fire. It halted, wavered, and sought cover. 
The rear pressed on, but the fire was so hot that very soon all 
followed this example. The head of the column crossed 



114 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

the ditcli on tlie left face of the bastion, and climbed up 
on the extericr slope. There the colors were planted, and 
the men burrowed in the earth to shield themselves from 
the flank fire. The leading brigade of Ewing being unable 
to carry that point, the next brigade of Giles Smith was 
turned down a ravine, and, by a cu-cuit to the left, found 
cover, formed line, and threatened the parapet about three 
hundi-ed yards to the left of the bastion ; while the brigade 
of Kilby Smith deployed on the further slope of one of 
the spurs, where, with Ewing's brigade, they kept up a con- 
stant fire against any object that presented itself above the 
parapet. 

About two P. M., General Blair having reported that none of 
liis brigades could pass the point of the road swept by the 
terrific fire encountered by Ewing's, but that Giles Smith had 
got a position to the left in connection with General Eansom, 
of McPherson's corps, and was ready to assault, Sherman or- 
dered a constant fire of artillery and infantry to be kept up 
to occupy the attention of the enemy in his front, while Han- 
som's and Giles Smith's brigades charged up against the par- 
apet. They also met a staggering fire, before wluch they 
recoiled under cover of the hill-side. At the same time, while 
McPherson's whole corps was engaged, and having heard fi'om 
General Grant General McClernand's report, which sub- 
sequently proved inaccurate, that he had taken three of the 
enemy's forts, and that his flags floated on the stronghold 
of Yicksburg, Sherman ordered General Tuttle at once to 
send to the assault one of his brigades. He detailed General 
Mower's, and while General Steele was hotly engaged on the 
right, and heavy firing could be heard all down the line 
to his left, Sherman ordered their charge, covered in like 
manner by Blair's division deployed on the hill-side, and the 
artillery posted behind parapets within point-blank range. 
General Mower carried his brigade up bravely and well, but 
met a fire more severe, if possible, than that of the first assault, 
with a similar result. The colors of the leading regiment, the 
Eleventh Missouri, were plantei by the side of those of Blaii-'s 



A 










. ii. i.'u.Ciia_L '-Lb-Jll, X iiL-iibiicI . 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. U5 

storming party, and there remained till withdrawn, after night- 
fall, by Sherman's orders. General Steele, with his division, 
made his assault at a point about midway between the 
bastion and the Mississippi Eiver. The ground over which 
he passed was more open and exposed to the flank fire of the 
enemy's batteries in position, and was deeply cut up by 
guUeys and washes, but his column passed steadily through 
this fire, and reached the parapet, which was also found to 
be well manned and defended by the enemy. He could not 
carry the works, but held possession of the hill-side till night, 
when he withdrew his command to his present position. The 
loss in Sherman's corps in this attack was about six hundred 
killed and wounded. 

In the mean while portions of each of the storming columns 
on McPherson's and McClernand's fronts planted their columns 
on the exterior slope of the parapet, where they kept them 
till night. But the assault had failed. The enemy's works 
were naturally and artificially too strong to be taken in that 
way. The enemy was able to maintain at each point assailed, 
and at all simultaneously the full force the position admitted ; 
and the nature of the ground was such that only small col- 
umns could be used in the assault. 

General Grant now determined to undertake a regular siege. 
The troops worked diUgently and cheerfully. On the evening 
of the 3d of July the saps were close to the enemy's ditch, 
the mines were well under his parapet, and every thing was in 
readiness for a final assault. Meanwhile the investing force 
had been strengthened by Landrum's division from Memphis ; 
Smith's and Kimball's divisions of the Sixteenth Corj)s, under 
Major-General C. C. Washburne ; Herron's division from Ar- 
kansas, and two divisions of the Ninth Corps, under Major- 
General John G. Parke, from the Department of the Ohio. 
By the 25th of Jime, our intrenchments being now as formidable 
against a sortie as the enemy's works were against assault, and 
there being more troops than were needed for the investment. 
General Grant placed Sherman in command of the Ninth Corps 
at Haines' Blufi", Landrum's division, and one division each from 



116 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

tlie Thirteentli, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth corps, and assigned 
to him the duty of watching the movements of Johnston, who 
had collected a large army at Jackson, and was aj)parently 
about to attack the rear of the investing force, with the 
design of raising the siege. Our position was a strong one. 
The Big Black covered us from attack, and would render 
Johnston's escape in the event of defeat impossible. Never- 
theless the condition of affairs with his army was so desperate 
that he moved from Jackson on the 29th of June ; but while 
he was making reconnoissances to ascertain the best point for 
crossing the river, on the 4th day of July, 1863, Vicksburg 
surrendered. 

General Grant in his official report of the siege, dated July 
6th, thus alludes to Sherman's operations while guarding the 
rear : "Johnston, however, not attacking, I determined to attack 
him the moment Vicksburg was in our possession, and ac- 
cordingly notified Sherman that I should again make an assault 
on Vicksburg at daylight on the 6th, and for him to have up 
supplies of all descriptions ready to move upon receipt of 
orders, if the assault should prove a success. His prepara- 
tions were immediately made, and when the place surrendered 
on the 4th, two days earlier than I had fixed for the attack, 
Sherman was found ready, and moved at once with a force 
increased by the remainder of both the Thirteenth and Fif- 
teenth Army corps, and is at present investing Jackson, where 
Johnston has made a stand." 

Johnston occupied the lines of rifle-pits covering the front 
of Jackson with four divisions of Confederate troops, under 
Major-Generals Loring, "Walker, French, and Breckinridge, and 
a division of cavalry, under Brigadier-General Jackson, ob- 
serving the fords. 

After toiling for nearly two months in the hot and stifling 
trenches, without pausing to share the general outbreak of joy 
for the national triumph which crowned their labors, Sher- 
man's men marched fifty miles in the heat and dust through a 
country almost destitute of water, to meet the enemy. 

The advance of his troops appeared before the enemy's 



THE SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. II7 

works in front of Jackson on the 9tli of July, and on tlie 12tli 
had invested tliat place, until botli flanks rested upon Pearl 
River, Constant and vigorous skirmishing was kept up in 
front, while a cavalry expedition was sent off to the east of 
Jackson to destroy the railroads, until the night of the 16th of 
July. Sherman now had all his artillery in position, and a large 
ammunition train for which he had been waiting had arrived 
during the day. Learning this fact, and perceiving the im- 
possibility of longer maintaining his position, Johnston having 
previously removed the greater portion of his stores, marched 
out of Jackson the same night, and destroj-ed the floating- 
bridges over the Pearl River. Early on the morning of the 
17th, the evacuation was discovered, and Sherman's troops 
entered and occupied the city. Johnston continued the re- 
treat to Morton, thu'ty-five miles east of Jackson, Two divis- 
ions of our troops, with the cavalry, followed as far as Brandon, 
through which place they drove the enemy's cavalry on the 
19th. General Sherman at once sent out expeditions in all 
quarters, to thoroughly and permanently destroy all the 
bridges, culverts, embankilients, water-tanks, rails, ties, and 
roUing-stock of the railways centring in Jackson. Our loss 
during the operations before Jackson was about one thousand 
in all ; the enemy's was estimated by General Johnston at 71 
killed, 501 wounded, and about 25 stragglers. "We took 764 
prisoners on entering the city. Leaving a small garrison in 
Jackson, Sherman returned to the line of the Big Black, to 
recuperate. 

Thus terminated, in one hundred and nine days from its first 
iQception, a campaign which resulted in the surrender of an 
entire army of thirty-seven thousand prisoners, including fif- 
teen general ofiicers ; the discomfiture and partial dispersion 
of a second large army under a leader of approved skiU ; the 
capture of Yicksburg ; the opening of the Mississippi River ; 
and the division of the rebellion in twain. 

Of Sherman's part in the campaign General Grant remarks : 
" The siege of Vicksburg and last caf)ture of Jackson and 
dispersion of Johnston's army entitle General Sherman to 



118 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

more credit tliau usnallj falls to tlie lot of one man to earn. 
His demonstration at Haines' Bluff, in April, to hold the ene- 
emj about Vicksburg, while the army was securing a foothold 
east of the Mississii3pi ; his rapid marches to join the army 
afterwards ; his management at Jackson, Mississippi, in the 
first attack ; his almost unequalled march from Jackson to 
Bridgeport, and passage of Black River ; his securing Walnut 
Hills on the 18th of May, attest his great merit as a soldier." 
The army now rested. 



THE LULL AFTER VICKSBUEQ. 119 



CHAPTEK X. 

THE LULL AFTER VICKSBURG. 

Immediately after the surrender, while waiting for tlie move- 
ment of his columns, Sherman seized a few moments to write 
these hasty lines to his friend Admiral Porter : — 

" I can appreciate the intense satisfaction you must feel 
at lying before the very monster that has defied us with such 
deep and malignant hate, and seeing your once disunited 
fleet again a unit ; and better still, the chain that made an in- 
closed sea of a link in the great river broken forever. In 
so magnificent a result I stop not to count who did it. It is 
done, and the day of our nation's bu*th is consecrated and bap- 
tized anew in a victory won by the united Navy and Armj of 
our country. God grant that the harmony and mutual respect 
that exists between our respective commanders, and shared by 
all the true men of the joint service, may continue forever and 
serve to elevate our national character, threatened with ship- 
wreck. T.hus I muse as I sit in my solitary camp out in the 
wood far from the point for which we have justly striven so 
long and so well, and though personal curiosity would tempt 
me to go and see the frowning batteries and sunken pits that 
have defied us so long, and sent to their silent graves so many 
of our early comrades in the enterprise, I feel that other tasks 
He before me, and time must not be lost. Without casting 
anchor, and despite the heat and the dust and the drought, I 
must again into the bowels of the land to make the con- 
quest of Vicksburg fulfil all the conditions it should in the 
progress of this war. Whether success attend my efibrts or 
not, I know that Admiral Porter will ever accord to me the 



120 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

exhibition of a pure and unselfish zeal in the service of our 
country. 

" Though further apart, the navy and army will still act in 
concert, and I assure you I shall never reach the banks of the 
river or see a gunboat but I will think of Admiral Porter, 
Captain Breese, and the many elegant and accomplished gen- 
tlemen it has been my good fortune to meet on armed or 
unarmed decks of the Mississippi Squadron." 

There was now a lull in the war. After the great struggles 
which closed the summer campaign of 1863, the combatants 
relaxed their grasp for a moment, to breathe. The x^-rmy of 
tlie Potomac rested upon the Eapidan. The Ai'my of tie 
Cumberland, gathered for the leap, lay in front of Tullahoma. 
The Army of the Tennessee reposed on the banks of the river 
it had won. Steele was sent to occupy Little Eock. Ord with 
the Thhteenth Corps, went to New Orleans. By the remain- 
der of Grant's army the interval was spent in reorganizing 
and recuperating. The Fifteenth Corps was reorganized so as 
to consist of four divisions. The First, commanded by Briga- 
dier-General P. J. Osterhaus, was composed of two brigades, 
led by Brigadier-General C. B. Woods and Colonel J. A. Wil- 
liamson, of the Fourth Iowa. The Second, commanded by 
Brigadier-General Morgan L. Smith, comprised the brigades 
of Brigadier-Generals Giles A. Smith and J. A. D. Lightburn. 
The Third, commanded by Brigadier-General J. M. Tuttle, 
consisted of three brigades, under Brigadier-Generals J. A. 
Mower, and E. P. Bucldaud, and Colonel J. J. Wood, of the 
Twelfth Iowa. The Fourth, commanded by Brigadier-General 
Hugh Ewing, included the brigades led by General J. M. Corso, 
Colonel Loomis, of the Twenty-sixth lUinois, and Colonel J. 
E. Cockerell, of the Seventieth Iowa. Major-General Frank 
P. Blair was temporarily relieved from duty with the corps, 
and Major-General Steele's division accompanied that officer 
to Ai'kansas. 

We may now avail ourselves of the lull to glance briefly at 
General Sherman's correspoEdence, during this period and the 



THE LULL AFTER VICKSBURG. 121 

campaign just ended, relating to otlier matters than tlie move- 
ments and battles of liis corps. 

Wliile tlie new levies of 1863 were being raised, in a letter 
to tlie governor of liis native State he took occasion to urge 
the importance of filling up the ranks of the veteran regiments 
rather than raising new ones. "I believe," he said, "you 
will pardon one who rarely travels out of his proper sphere to 
exjjress an earnest hope that the strength of our people will 
not again be wasted by the organization of new regiments, 
whilst we have in the field skeleton regiments, with ojBicers, 
non-commissioned officers, and men, who only need numbers 
to make a magnificent army. 

" The President of the United States is now clothed with a 
power that should have been conferred just two years ago, 
and I feel assured he will use it. He will call for a large mass 
of men, and they should all be privates, and sent so as to 
make every regiment in the field equal to one thousand men. 
Time has convinced all reasonable men that war in theory and 
practice are two distinct thmgs. Many an honest patriot, 
full of enthusiasm, zeal, and thirst for glory, has m practice 
found himself unequal to the actual requirements of war, and 
passed to one side, leaving another in his place ; and, now, 
after two years, Ohio has in the field one hundred and twenty- 
six regiments, whose officers noiv are quahfied, and the men of 
which would give tone and character to the new recruits. To 
fill these regiments will require fifty thousand recruits, which 
are as many as the State could well raise. I therefore hope 
and pray that you wiU use your influence against any more 
new regiments, and consolidation of old ones, but fill up all 
^ae old ones to a full standard. Those who talk of prompt 
and speedy peace know not what they say." 

Beverting to the enlarged scope of the war, and its probable 
future, he coutmues : " The South to-day is more formidable 
and arrogant than she was two years ago, and we lose far 
more by having an insufficient number of men than from any 
other cause. "We are forced to invade — we must keep the war 
South ; they are not only ruined, exhausted, but humbled id 



122 EHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

pride and spirit. Admitting that our armies to tlie front are 
equal to tlie occasion, wliicli I know is not the case, our hues 
of communication are ever threatened by their dashes, for 
which the country, the population, and character of the ene- 
my are all perfectly adapted. 

" Since the first hostile shot the x^eople of the North has had 
no option, they must conquer or be conquered. There can be 
no middle course. I have never been concerned about the 
copperhead squabblings ; the South spurns and despises this 
class worse than we do, and would only accept then* overtures 
to substitute them in their levies, in the cotton and corn-fields, 
for the slaves who have escaped. I do not pretend, nor have 
I ever pretended to foresee the end of all this, but I do know 
that we are yet far from the end of war. I repeat that it is no 
longer an open question ; we must fight it out. The moment 
we relax, down go all our conquests thus far. I know my 
views on this point have ever been regarded as extreme, even 
verging on insanity ; but for years I liad associated with 
Bragg, Beauregard, and extreme Southern men, and long be- 
fore others could realize the fact that Americans would raise 
their hands against our consecrated government, I was forced 
to know it, to witness it. Two years w^ill not have been spent 
in vain if the North now, by another magnificent upheaving 
of the real people, again fill the ranks of your proven and 
tried regiments, and assure them that, through good report 
and evil report, you will stand by them. If Ohio will do this, 
and if the great North will do this, then will our army feel 
that it has a country and a government worth dying for. 
As to the poltroons, who falter and cry quits, let them dig 
and raise the food the army needs — ^but they should never 
claim a voice in the councils of the nation." 

A general order, issued from the adjutant-general's office, 
directed that all regiments which had fallen below one liaH 
their maximum strength should be consolidated by reducing 
the number of companies, and mustering out such of the 
field and staff officers as should thereby be rendered super- 
numerary. Strictly carried out, the effect of this order would 



THE LJLL AFTER VICKSBURG. 123 

have been to reduce a very large proportion of the regiments 
composing the army to the condition of feeble battaUons, 
with impaired powers for the assimilation of recruits, and with 
the loss of many of the ablest and bravest officers. In many 
cases this actually occurred. To the poHcy of this order, 
Sherman felt called upon to object. " If my judgment do not 
err," he ^\^.■ote to Adjutant-General Thomas, " you have the 
power to save this army from a disintegration more fatal than 
defeat. 

"You will pardon so strong an expression, when I illus- 
trate my meaning ; and if I am in error I shall rejoice to 
know it. 

" The Act of Congress, known as the ' Conscript Bill,' though 
containing many other provisions, was chiefly designed to or- 
ganize the entire available military strength of the nation, and 
provide for its being called out to the assistance of the armies 
now in the field. These armies are composed in great part of 
regiments which, by death in battle, by disease, and discharges 
for original or developed causes, have fallen far below the 
minimum standard of law, and many even below ' one-half of 
the maximum strength.' Yet all these regiments, as a general 
rule, have undergone a necessary and salutary purgation. 
Field-ofiicers have acquired a knowledge which they did not 
possess Avhen first called to arms by the breaking out of the 
war ; they have learned how to drill, to organize, to provide 
for and conduct their regiments. Captains, heutenants, ser- 
geants, and corporals, have all been educated in the dear but 
necessary school of experience, and begin to have a knowl- 
edge which would enable them to make good companies, had 
they the proper number of privates. We had all supposed 
the conscript law would furnish these privates, and that at last 
we would have an army with a due proportion of aU grades. 
The receipt of General Orders No. 86 dispels this illusion, 
and we must now absolutely discharge the colonels and majors, 
and assistant-surgeons of all regiments below the standard of 
' one-half the maximum.' This will at once take the very life 
out of our army. The colonels and majors of our reduced 



124 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

regiments are generally tlie best men, and are the fruit 
of two years' hard and constant labor. Then the ten com- 
panies must be reduced to five, and of course there will 
be discharged in each regiment — field and staff, three ; cap- 
tains, five ; lieutenants, ten ; sergeants, twenty ; corporals, 
forty ; aggregate, seventy-eight. So that each regiment 
will be reduced in strength by seventy-eight of its chosen 
and best men. Extend this to the whole army, for the army 
is now or must soon fall below the standard, and the 
result will be a very heavy loss, and that confined to the best 
men. 

" Then, after regiments are made battalions, and again are 
restored to their regimental organization, will come in a new 
set of colonels, majors, captains, etc., etc., and what guarantee 
have we but the same old process of costly elimination will 
have to be gone over? . . A new set of colonels and majors, 
and a strong infusion of new captains and lieutenants, will 
paralyze the new organization. The army is now in about the 
right condition to be re-enforced by recruits — privates ; but if 
this consolidation is effected, I have no hesitation in saying 
that my army corps is and will be paralyzed by the change. 
It will be all loss and no gain. Kegiments will lose their 
identity, their ]3ride, their esprit. If there be no intention to 
enlarge the present volunteer army, I admit that consolida- 
tion is economical and right ; but when we all feel the armies 
must be filled up, it does seem strange we should begin by 
taking out of our small but tried regiments some of the very 
best materials in them, especially their colonels." 

To a lady whose sight and hearing were shocked by the con- 
duct and language of some of the troops, and Avho took 
occasion to represent the nratter at length, he rephed, defend- 
ing his men against the charges of misconduct, which, as in 
all other portions of the army, were continually brought 
against them in terms so vague and general that no ci\dl 
magistrate would have given them an instant's thought; and 
himself against the aUegation that he tolerated irregulari- 
ties. 



THE LULL AFTER VICKSBURG. 125 

" Mi^s. Z has fallen into a common error in saying 

it was useless to complain of a whole regiment to Brigadier- 
General Smith or Major-General Sherman. We naturally 
demanded more specific complaint against incendiary acts 

than a mere vague suspicion that the did all iniquitous 

things, when twenty other regiments were camped round 
about Memj)his, six thousand vagabonds and refugees hang- 
ing about, and the city itself infested by gangs of thieves and 
incendiaries, turned loose upon the world, and sheltered in 
their deeds of darkness by charging them upon soldiers. 
Neither General Morgan L. Smith or myself ever failed to 
notice a specific complaint against any soldier of our com- 
mand, if accompanied by reasonable proofs ; but we did, and 
rightfully too, resent a mere general charge, that every fire 
originating from careless chimneys, careless arrangement of 
stove-pipes, and the designing acts of wicked incendiaries, 
sh'ould without even an attempt at proof be charged to the 
. That regiment is one of the bravest and best dis- 
ciplined in our service, and being composed mostly of young 
and energetic men from the city of , is somewhat fa- 
mous for its acts of fun, frohc, mischief, and even crime, 
with a perfect skill in evadmg detection and pursuit. They 
are lawless and violent, and, like all our volunteer soldiers, 
have for years been taught that the people, the masses, 
the majority, are 'king,' and can do no wrong. They 
are no worse than other volunteers, all of whom come to us 
filled with the popular idea that they must enact war, that 
they must clean out the secesh, must waste and not protect 
their property, must burn, waste, and destroy. Just such 

people as Mrs. Z have taught tliis creed, sung this 

song, and urged on our men to these disgraceful acts ; 
and it is such as Morgan L. Smith and W. T. Sherman 
who have been combating this foul doctrine. During my 
administration of affairs in Memphis, I know it was raised 
fi'om a condition of death, gloom, and darkness, to one of 
life and comparative prosperity. Its streets, stores, hotels, 
and dwellings were sad and deserted as I entered it, and 



126 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

when I left it, life and business prevailed, and over fourteen 
hundred enrolled Union men paraded its streets, boldly and 
openly carrying the banners of our country. No citizen, 
Union or secesh, will deny that I acted lawfully, firmly, and 
fairly, and that substantial justice prevailed mtli even balance. 
I do feel their testimony better than the hearsay of any would- 
be notoriety." 

To General Steele, while temporarily de^;ached from the 
main body of his command, Sherman thus wrote respecting 
the destruction of the enemy's property : — 

" I most heartily approve your purpose to return to famihes 
their carriages, buggies, and farming tools, wherewith to make 
a crop. War at best is barbarism, but to involve all — children, 
women, old and helpless — is more than can be justified. Our 
men will become absolutely lawless unless this can be checked. 
The destruction of corn or forage and provisions in the enemy's 
country is a well-established law of war, and is as justifiable 
as the destruction of private cotton by the Southern Confed- 
eracy. Jef. Davis, no doubt, agrees that they have a right 
to destroy their people's cotton, but the guerrillas do not stop 
to inquire whose cotton they burn ; and I know, as you loiow, 
the Confederate Government claim the war-right to burn all 
cotton, whether belonging to their adherents or to Union men. 
We surely have a similar right as to corn, cotton, fodder, &c., 
used to sustain armies and war. Still, I always feel that the 
stores necessary for a family should be spared, and I think it 
injures our men to allow them to plunder indiscriminately the 
inhabitants of the country." 

Near Jackson, Miss., at a house called " Hurricane," formerly 
occupied as a residence by Jefferson Davis's brother, Josej)h 
Davis, some men of Swing's division discovered, in a garret, 
only reached through a trap-door in the ceiling, a box of letters 
and papers. By the time the bos reached Sherman's head- 
quarters, whither it was forwarded, many of the contents had 



THE LULL AFTER VICKSBURQ. 127 

been abstracted, but the remainder were found to consist of 
letters addressed to Jefferson Davis bj various persons during 
the preceding ten years. After attempting to arrange them 
in convenient shape for examination, Sherman found the task 
too great a tax on his time, and early in August forwarded 
them to the adjutant-general's office at AYashington. 

The circumstances which form the groundwork of some of 
Whittier's finest verses are thus related, in an official dispatch 
to the secretary of war, dated August 8th, 1863 : — 

" I take the liberty of asking, through you, that something 
be done for a young lad named Orion P. Howe, of Waukegan, 
Illinois, who belongs to the Fifty -fifth Illinois, but is at present 
at his home wounded. I think he is too young for West Point, 
but would be the very thing for a midshipman. When the 
assault at Vicksburg was at its height, on the 19th of May, 
and I was on foot near the road which formed the line of at- 
tack, this young lad came up to me wounded and bleeding, 
with a good healthy boy's cry : * General Sherman, send some 
cartridges to Colonel Walmbourg, the men are all out.' 
* What is the matter with my boy ?' ' They shot me in the 
leg, but I can go to the hospital ; send the cartridges right 
away.' Even where we stood, the shot feU thick, and I told 
him to go to the rear at once, I would attend to the cartridges, 
and off he hmped. Just before he disappeared over the hill, 
he turned, and called, as loud as he could, ' Calibre 54.' 

" I have not seen the boy since, and his colonel, Walm- 
bourg, on inquiry, gives me his address as above, and says 
he is a bright inteUigent boy, with a fine preHminary educa- 
tion. 

" What arrested my attention then, was — and what renews 
my memory of the fact now, is — that one so young, carrying 
a musket-baU wound through his leg, should have found his 
way to me on tli it fatal spot, and dehvered his message, not 
forgetting the very important part, even, of the cahbre of the 
musket, which you know is an unusual one. 

" I'll warrant that the boy has in him the elements of a man, 



128 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and I commend liim to the Government as one worthy the 
fosterincc care of some one of its national institutions." 

On the 14th of August he received from the "War Depart- 
ment a commission as brigadier-general in the Regular Army 
of the United States, dating fi'om the 4th of July, 1863, and 
thus acknowledged his indebtedness to General Grant for this 

new honor : — 

* 

" I had the satisfaction to receive last night the appoint- 
ment^as brigadier-general in the regular army, with a letter 
from General HaUeck very friendly and complimentary in its 
terms. I know that I owe this to your favor, and beg to ac- 
knowledge it, and add, that I value the commission far less 
than the fact that tliis will associate my name with yours and 
McPherson's in opening the Mississippi, an achievement the 
importance of which cannot be over-estimated. 

" I beg to assure you of my deep personal attachment, and 
to express the hope that the chances of war mil leave me to 
serve near and under you till the dawn of that peace for which 
we are contending, with the only purpose that it shall be hon- 
orable and lasting." 

President Lincoln had at the same time conferred on Gen- 
eral Grant himself a commission as major-general in the regu- 
lar army from the same date ; and Meade for Gettysburg, 
and McPherson for Vicksburg, had also been added to the 
list of the regular brigadier-generals. To understand the 
nature of the comphment thus bestowed by the Government 
upon its faithful servants, it must be remembered that the 
major-generals of the regular army number but five, and the 
brigadier-generals but nine. 

It has been alleged in some of the newspapers of the day, 
that while the army was encamped at Young's Point, General 
Sherman handed to General Grant a written protest against 
the proposed movement on Grand Gulf, and the statement 
has been coupled with s ich a show of circumstances as to 



THE LULL AFTER VICKSBURG. 129 

obtain ready credence in many quarters. In fact, General 
Sherman never protested, either in writing or verbally, against 
any movement ever proposed or adopted by General Grant ; 
and tlirougliout the entire campaign these two commanders 
acted together in perfect harmony and cordiality ; the com- 
mander-in-chief freely and constantly availing himself of Sher- 
man's advice, the subordinate promptly and faithfully carrying 
out the orders of his superior. But the movement on Grand 
Gulf was not Sherman's plan. It was the conception of Gen- 
eral Grant's own mind, and was adoj)ted by him, against the 
opinion, though with the full consent and support of the 
Executive. Sherman considered the north front of Yicksburg 
the true point of attack, and the line of the Yallabusha the 
best base of operations. On the 8th of April he frankly ex- 
pressed this opinion to General Grant in the following com- 
munication : 

" I would most respectfully suggest that General Grant 
call on his corps commanders for their opinions, concise and 
positive, on the best general plan of campaign. 

" My own opinions are — 

" 1st. That the Army of the Tennessee is far in advance of 
the other grand armies. 

" 2d. That a corps from Missouri should forthwith be moved 
from St. Louis to the vicinity of Little Kock, Ai-kansas, sup- 
pHes collected while the river is full, and land communication 
with Memphis opened, via Des Ark, on the "White and Madi- 
son, on the St. Francis rivers. 

" 3d. That as much of Yazoo Pass, Coldwater, and Tallahat- 
chee rivers as can be regained and fortified be held, and the 
main army be transported thither by land or water ; that the 
road back to Memphis be secured and reopened, and as soon 
as the waters subside, Grenada be attacked, and the swamp 
road across to Helena be patroled by cavahy. 

" 4th. That the line of the Yallabusha be the base from which 
to operate against the points where the Mississippi Central 
crosses Big Black above Canton, and, lastly, where the Vicks- 

9 



130 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

burg and Jackson Eailroad crosses the same riyer. The cap- 
ture of Vicksburg would result. 

" 5th. That a force be left in this vicinity not to exceed ten 
thousand men, with only enough st-eamboats to float and 
transport them to any desu-ed pomt. This force to be held 
always near enough to act with the gunboats, when the main 
army is known to be near Vicksburg, Haines' Bluff, or Yazoo 
City. 

" The chief reason for operating soldij by water was the sea- 
son of the year, and high-water in Tallahatchee and Yalla- 
busha. The spring is now here, and soon these streams will 
be no serious obstacle, save the ambuscades of forest, and 
whatever works the enemy may have erected at or near 
Grenada. North Mississippi is too valuable to allow them to 
hold and make crops. 

" I make these suggestions with the request that General 
Grant simply read them, and simply give them, as I know he 
will, a share of his thoughts. I would prefer he should not 
answer them, but merely give them as much or as Httle weight 
as they deserve." 

And he added in conclusion : — 

" Whatever plan of action he may adopt will receive fi'om 
me the same zealous co-operation and energetic support as 
though conceived by myself." 



MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA 131 



CHAPTEE XI. 

THE MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA AND THE BATTLfi OF MISSIONABY 

RIDGE. 

While Sherman's corps was resting on the Big Black, the 
situation of affaii's in the central region became such as to 
require the concentration of all available troops for operations 
in that theatre of war. Eosecrans had in August expelled 
the enemy fi-om Middle Tennessee, and, by the 9tli of Septem- 
ber, by a brilliant series of flank movements, had compelled 
Bragg to evacuate his strong fortified position at Chattanooga, 
and fall back behind the Lookout and Mission mountains. 
Burnside had, at the same time, driven the rebels from East 
Tennessee, and had occupied Knoxville and Cumberland Gap. 
Having lost the Mississippi, the enemy was now endeavoring 
to save Tennessee, and was bringing troops from the east and 
fiom the west to reinforce Bragg, so as to enable him to take 
the offensive, and drive the Union army to the Ohio. Long- 
street's corps was on its way from Virginia, and Boring's di- 
vision had arrived fi'om Johnston's army. 

On the 13th September, orders were sent from "Washington 
to Burnside to move down the Tennessee towards Chattanooga, 
and to Hurlbut at Memphis and Grant and Sherman at Yicks- 
burg, to send all their available forces to Corinth and Tus- 
cumbia to co-operate with Eosecrar.s, in case Bragg should 
attempt to turn his right flank and invade Tennessee. On 
the 23d, Howard's eleventh corps and Slocum's twelfth 
corps were detached fi'om the Army of the Potomac, united 
under the command of Major-General Hooker, and ordered to 
Nashville. 



132 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

On the 22d, having received a telegram from General Grant, 
directing him to detail one division to march to Yicksburg, 
and there embark for Memphis^ Sherman dispatched Oster- 
haus with his first division. At four o'clock that afternoon it 
was on the march, and embarked the next day. On the 23d, 
Sherman was called in person to Yicksburg, and instructed to 
prepare to follow with his whole corps, except Tuttle's third 
division, which was to be left with General McPherson to 
guard the line of the Big Black, and to be replaced in the 
Fifteenth Cor|)s bj John E. Smith's division of the Seven- 
teenth Corps, consisting of three brigades, commanded respec- 
tively by Brigadier-General Matthias, Colonel G. B. Baum, 
Fifty-sixth Illuiois, and Colonel J. J. Alexander, Fiftieth Illi- 
nois. This division was already on the way, and, by the 27th, 
at the earhest moment when it was possible to procure steam- 
boat transportation, Sherman followed in person, with Morgan 
L. Smith's second division, and Ewing's fourth division. 
Owing to the low stage of water in the river and the scarcity 
of wood on the banks, the last of the fleet did not reach Mem- 
phis until the 4th of October. There Sherman found orders 
from the general-in-chief. General Halleck, to conduct the 
Fifteenth Ai'my Corps, -with all other troops which could be 
spared from the line of the Memphis and Charleston railway, 
to Athens, Alabama, and thence report for orders to General 
Eosecrans, at Chattanooga. He was substantially to follow 
the railway eastwardly, repairing it as he moved, looking to 
his own lines for suppHes, and was in no event to depend for 
them upon Bosecrans, the roads in whose rear were already 
overtaxed to meet the wants of his o"\vn army. Osterhaus' 
first division was already in front of Corinth, and John E. 
Smith's, styled the third, at Memphis, moving out by rail, 
but the capacity of the railroad was so hmited that it was soon 
found that animals and wagons could be moved more rapidly 
by the common road, and the whole of Ewing's fourth division 
moved in the same manner. 

On the 11th of October, having put in march the rear of 
the column, Sherman started for Corinth by railway, in a special 



MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA. 133 

train, escorted by the battalion of the Thirteenth Eegular In- 
fantry, and reached Collierville station at noon. The Sixty- 
ninth Indiana, under Colonel D. 0. Anthony, was at that 
moment gallantly defending the post against the attack by the 
rebel General Chahners with a force of nearly three thousand 
cavaby and eight field-guns, and Sherman's escort arrived just 
in time to assist in his defeat. The next day Sherman reached 
Corinth, and ordered General Frank P. Blair, who had again 
reported to him at the outset of the march, and whom he had 
assigned to duty as his second in command, to take charge of 
the advance, and push forward to luka with the first and 
second divisions of Osterhaus and Morgan L. Smith, while he 
himself remained behind a few days to push forward the troops 
as they came up, p,nd to direct the repairs. On the 19th, he 
reached luka, and on the following day, in accordance with a 
previous agreement with Kear-Admiral Porter, two gunboats 
and a decked coal-barge reached East port to assist in crossing 
the Tennessee. While the repairs of the railway were progress- 
ing, Sherman ordered General Blair to push forward with the 
two divisions under his command, and drive the enemy, con- 
sisting of Roddy's and Ferguson's cavalry brigades, and a 
number of irregular cavahy, in all about five thousand strong, 
under the command of Major-General Stephen D. Lee, beyond 
Tuscumbia. After a short engagement, Blair drove the enemy 
from his front, and entered Tuscumbia on the 27th of October. 
In the mean time, on the 19th and 20th of September, Rose- 
crans, endeavoring to concentrate his scattered columns in the 
presence of the enemy, had been attacked by Bragg, had fought 
the bloody battle of Chickamauga, had retreated to Chatta- 
nooga, and was there practically invested. On the 18th of 
October, Major-General Grant, who had been sent for some 
time before, arrived at Louis\'ille, and in pursuance of orders 
issued by the War Department on the 16th, and dehvered to 
him by the Secretary of war in person, assumed command 
of the MHitary Division of the Mississippi, comprising the de- 
partments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee, 
and the three large armies operating therein. Upon his 



134 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

recommendation, tlie secretary of war immediately issued 
orders assigning Major-General Thomas to tlie command of 
the Department of the Cumberland, and Major-General Sher- 
man to that of the Department of the Tennessee. Sherman 
received these orders at luka, on the 25th of October, accom- 
panied by instructions from General Grant to retain personal 
command of the army in the field. Investing Major-General 
McPherson, at Vicksburg, with full authority to act in his 
stead in regard to the State of Mississippi, and conferring 
upon Major-General Hurlbut a similar authority as to West 
Tennessee, he at once pubhshed the following instructions 
for the guidance of the ojBficers and soldiers of his department 
in their relations with the citizens : — 

" AH ofl&cers in command of corps and fixed mihtary posts 
wUl assume the highest military powers allowed by the 
laws of war and Congress. They must maintain the best 
possible discipline, and repress all disorder, alarms, and 
dangers in their reach. Citizens who fail to support the Gov- 
ernment have no right to ask favors and protection ; but if 
they actively assist us in vindicating the national authority, 
all commanders will assist them and their families in every 
possible way. Officers need not meddle with matters of trade 
and commerce, which by law devolve on the officer of the 
Treasury Department ; but whenever they discover goods con- 
traband of war being conveyed towards the pubhc enemy, 
they will seize all goods tainted by such transactions, and im- 
prison the parties implicated ; but care must be taken to make 
full records and report such case. "When a district is infested 
by guerrillas, or held by the enemy, horses and mules, wagons, 
forage, etc., are all means of war, and can be freely taken, but 
must be accounted for as pubhc property. If the people do 
not want theii- horses and corn taken, they must organize and 
repress all guerrillas or hostile bands in their neighborhood. 

"It is represented that officers, provost-marshals, and 
others in the mihtary service, are engaged in business or 
speculation on their own account, and that they charge fees 



MARCH TO C lATTANOOGA. 135 

for permits and passes. All this is a breach of honor and 
law. Every salaried officer of the mihtary service should de- 
vote every hour of his time, every thought of his mind, to his 
Government, and if he makes one cent profit beyond his pay, 
it is corrupt and criminal. All officers and soldiers in this 
department are hereby commanded to engage in no busi- 
ness whatever, save their sworn duty to their Govern- 
ment. 

"Every man should be with his proper corps, division, 
brigade, and regiment, unless absent, sick, wounded, or de- 
tached by a "svTitten order of a competent commander. Soldiers 
when so absent must have theii" descriptive rolls, and when not 
provided with them the supposition is that they are improperly 
absent. Mustering officers will see that all absentees not 
away by a written order fi'om their proper commander are re- 
ported on the muster-rolls as deserters, that they may lose 
their pay, bounty, and pensions, which a generous Government 
and people have provided for soldiers who do their whole 
duty. The best hospitals in the world are provided for the 
wounded and sick, but these must not be made receptacles for 
absentees who seek to escape the necessary exposures and 
dangers of a soldier's life. Whenever possible, citizens must 
be employed as nurses, cooks, attendants, stewards, etc., in 
hospitals, in order that enhsted men may be where they be- 
long — with their regiments. The medical inspectors will at- 
tend to this at once. The general commanding announces 
that he expects the wounded and sick to have every care pos- 
sible ; but this feeling must not be abused to the injury of the 
only useful part of an army — a soldier in the field. 

"In time of war and rebellion, districts occupied by our 
troops are subject to the laws of war. The inhabitants, 
be they friendly or unfi'iendly, must submit to the controUing 
power. If any person in an insurgent district corresponds or 
trades with an enemy, he or she becomes a spy ; and all in- 
habitants, moreover, must not only abstain from hostile and 
unfriendly acts, but must aid and assist the power that pro- 
tects them in trade and commerce." 



X36 SHERMAN AND HIS CAJMPAIGNS. 

Major-General Blair was placed in immediate command of 
the Fifteenth Army Corps, and Brigadier-General George M. 
Dodge was summoned from Corinth to. organize and assume 
command of a picked column of eight thousand men from the 
Sixteenth Army Corps, and with it to follow Sherman east- 
ward as rapidly as j^ossible. Ha^dng made these disj)ositions, 
Sherman pushed forward with the advance of his troops. 

On the 27th of October, General Blair being, as has been 
ah-eady seen, at Tuscumbia, with the first and second di- 
visions, Sherman ordered General Ewing, with the fourth 
division, to cross the Tennessee, by means of the gunboats 
and scow, as rapidly as possible, at Eastport, and push for- 
ward to Florence ; and the same day a messenger from Gen- 
eral Grant floated down the Tennessee over the Muscle Shoals, 
landed at Tuscumbia, and was sent to headquarters at luka, 
bearing this short message : " Drop all work on the raiboad 
east of Bear Creek. Put your command towards Bridgeport 
till you meet orders," Instantly the order of march was re- 
versed, and all the columns directed to Eastport, the only 
place where the crossing of the Tennessee was practicable. 
At first the troops- had only the gunboats and coal-barge, 
but two transports and a ferry-boat arrived on the 31st of Oc- 
tober, and the work of crossing was pushed with all the vigor 
possible. Sherman crossed in person, and passed to the head 
of the column on the 1st of November, leaving the advance 
division of Osterhaus, now become the rear, to be conducted 
by General Blair to Kogersville and the Elk River. This 
stream v,'as found impassable, and there was no time to bridge 
it or to cross in boats, so that no alternative remained but to 
ascend the Elk to the stone bridge at Fayetteville, where the 
troops crossed and proceeded to Winchester and Decherd. 
At FayetteviUe, having received orders from General Grant to 
repair to Bridgeport with the Fifteenth Corps, leaving Briga- 
dier-General Dodge's detachment of the Sixteenth Corps at 
Pulaski and along the railroad from Columbia to Decatur, to 
protect it, Sherman instructed General Blair to foUow in order 
with the second and first divisions of Morgan L. Smith and 



MARCH TO CIIATTANOOaA. 137 

Osterliaus, by way of Newmarket, Larkins^^Ue, and Belle- 
fonte, while he himseK should conduct the third and foui'th 
divisions of John E. Smith and Ewing, by Decherd. Sher- 
man reached Bridgeport on the night of the 13tli, reported 
by telegraph to General Grant, was immediately summoned to 
his headquarters, left on the first boat, and on the morning of 
the 15tli of November rode into Chattanooga. 

Previous to this, on the night of the 2.7th of October, Briga- 
dier-General W. F. Smith, chief engineer of the Army of the 
Cumberland, had rapidly thrown a pontoon bridge across the 
Tennessee. On the following morning, before the enemy could 
recover from his surprise, Hooker with his two corps had crossed, 
seized the heights rising from Lookout Yalley at its outlet to 
the river, emerged into the valley, and taken up positions de- 
fending the road over which he had marched, and the roads 
leading to and connecting the ferries ; and thus two lines of 
supplies had been gained at the moment when, after more than 
ten thousand horses and mules had perished in supplying half 
rations to the troops over seventy miles of terrible roads, the 
remaining animals were so reduced that they could not have 
supphed the army a week longer. After vainly endeavoring 
to regain the advantage thus lost, Bragg detached Long- 
street to drive Burnside out of East Tennessee, and in order 
to compel the rebel commander to retain all his force, as well 
as to recall the troops he had sent away, it was Grant's inten- 
tion to attack Missionary Bidge the moment Sherman should 
arrive with his army and trains. The constraint imposed by 
the immediate presence of the enemy in his strong positions, 
with his cavahy constantly threatening our exposed and 
heavily-tasked communications, was severely felt, and the 
anxiety for Burnsicle's safety was acute. 

Sherman was to cross the Tennessee, effect a lodgment on 
the end of Missionary Eidge, and with a part of his command 
demonstrate against Lookout Mountain, near Trenton. By 
General Grant's orders, pontoons had abeady been prepared 
for laying a bridge over the Ter aessee, and all other necces- 
sary arrangements perfected. 



138 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Ordering Ewing to march, with his fourth di^ision lead- 
ing the advance, by way of Shell Mound to Trenton and 
to demonstrate against Lookout Mountain, but to be pre- 
pared rapidly to change direction on Chattanooga, Sher- 
man got in a small boat at Kelly's, rowed down to Bridge- 
port, there put his troops in motion, and, on the after- 
noon of the 20th, uj)on arriving at General Hooker's head- 
quarters, received General Grant's orders for a general attack 
the following morning. But the third division of John E. 
Smith was the only one in position ; Osterhaus' first and 
Morgan L. Smith's second division were slowly making their 
way over a terrible road fi'om Shell Mound to Chattanooga ; 
and Ewing's fourth division had not left Trenton. Learning 
these facts. General Grant postjDoned the attack. 

On the 21st, Morgan L. Smith's second division crossed the 
bridge at Brown's Ferry, in spite of frequent accidents to that 
frail structure, and Emng reached the head of the bridge with 
his fourth division, but was unable to cross by reason of its 
breakage, in spite of repeated attempts to repair it, until the 
23d. The bridge having again broken, leaving Osterhaus still 
on the left bank, at Brown's Ferry, Sherman then proposed to 
the general-in-chief to go into action with the three divisions 
abeady with him, supported by Jefferson C. Davis' division of 
the Fourteenth Corps, while Osterhaus' first division should 
report to General Hooker, and act with him against Lookout 
Mountain. On the same day, Morgan L. Smith's and John 
E. Smith's divisions being behind the hills opposite the 
mouth of the Chickamauga, Sherman caused Brigadier-General 
Giles A. Smith, with his second brigade of the former division, 
to march under cover of those hills to a point opposite the 
North Chickamauga, there to man the pontoon boats ; at mid- 
night to drop silently down to a point above the South Chicka- 
mauga, land, move along the river, capture the enemy's pickets 
along its banks ; and then to re-embark, drop quickly down be- 
low the mouth of the Chickamauga, take position there on the 
left bank, and dispatch the boats to the opposite side for re-en- 
forcements. This having been done, the remainder of Morgan 



MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA. 139 

L. Smith's division was raj. idly ferried across, followed by that 
of John E. Smith, and by dayhght of the 24:th, these two di- 
visions, numbering eight thousand men, were across the 
Tennessee, and had thrown up a line of rifle-pits to cover 
the crossing. As soon as it was light, some of the boats 
were taken from the ferry for use in the construction of a 
pontoon bridge, under the direction of Major-General William 
F. Smith, chief engineer of the military division, and by noon 
a fine bridge, thu'teen hundred and fifty feet in length, had 
been laid down, and was practicable for all arms. A steamer 
having arrived during the morning to assist in the crossing, 
all three divisions were now concentrated on the left bank ; 
and, at the same time, General Jefferson C. Da^is reported 
himself ready to take the Missionary Hills. 

At one p. M. the troops marched from the river in three 
columns in echelon ; the left, Morgan L. Smith, the column of 
direction, following substantially Chickamauga Creek ; the 
centre, John E. Smith, in column, doubled on the centre at full 
brigade intervals to the right and rear ; the right, Ewing, in 
column at the same distance to the right and rear, prepared 
to deploy to the right, to meet an enemy in that du-ection. 
Each head of column was covered by a line of skirmish- 
ers, with supports. A light drizzling rain prevailed, and the 
clouds hung low, cloaking the movement from the enemy's 
tower of observation on Lookout Mountain. The foot of the 
hills was soon reached, the skirmishers continued up the face 
followed by their supports, and at half-past three P. M. the 
ridge was gained without loss. Not until a brigade of each 
division was pushed up rapidly to the top of the hill did the 
enemy seem to reahze the movement, but it was then too late, 
for our troops were in possession. The enemy opened with 
artillery, but General Emng soon got some of Captain Eichard- 
son's guns up the steep hill, and returned the fire, and the 
enemy's skirmishers made one or two ineffectual dashes at 
General Lightburn, who with his brigade had swept around 
and gained the real continuation of the ridge. 

Up to this time it had been supposed, fi om the map, that 



140 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Missionary Kidge was a continuous liill, but Sherman now 
found himself on two high points, with a deep depression be- 
tween them, and a third hill immediately over the tunnel, which 
was his chief objective. The ground gained, however, was so 
important that nothing could be left to chance, and it was 
therefore fortified during the night. One brigade of each 
division was left on the hill, one of General Morgan L. Smith's 
closed the gap to Chickamauga Creek, two of General John E. 
Smith's were drawn back to the base in reserve, and General 
Ewing's right was extended down into the plain, thus crossing 
the ridge in a general hne facing southeast. 

The enemy felt Sherman's right flank about four p. m., and 
a sharp engagement with artillery and muskets ensued, when 
he drew off. Brigadier-General Giles A. Smith was severely 
wounded, and the command of the brigade devolved on 
Colonel Tupper, One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois. Just 
as Sherman himself had crossed the bridge, General How- 
ard had appeared, having come with three regiments from 
Chattanooga along the east bank of the Tennessee, con- 
necting Sherman's new position with that of the main army in 
Chattanooga. The three regiments were attached temporarily 
to General Ewiag's right, and General Howard returned to 
his corps at Chattanooga. As night closed, Sherman ordered 
General Jefferson C. Davis to keep one brigade at the bridge, 
one close up to the main body of the Fifteenth Corps, and one 
between the two. Hea\^ details were kept at work on the 
intrenchments until morning. 

During the night the sky cleared away bright, a cold frost 
filled the air, and the camp-fires revealed to the enemy, and to 
the army in Chattanooga, Sherman's position on Missionary 
Ridge. About midnight, orders came from General Grant 
to attack the enemy at dawn of day, with notice that Gen- 
eral Thomas would attack in force early in the morning. 
Accordingly, before light, Sherman was in the saddle, and, 
attended by all his staff, rode to the extreme left of his posi- 
tion, near Chickamauga, thence up the h ill held by General 
Lightburn, and round to the extreme right of General Ewing. 



MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA. 141 

Catching as accurate an idea of tlie ground as was possible by 
the dim light of morning, he saw that his hne of attack was in 
the direction of Missionary Ridge, with wings supporting on 
either flank. A valley lay between him and the next hill of 
the series, and this latter presented steep sides ; the one to 
the west partially cleared, the other covered with the native 
forest. The crest of the ridge was narrow and wooded. The 
further point of the hill was held by the enemy with a breast- 
work of logs and fresh earth, filled with men and mounting 
two guns. The enemy was also seen in great force on a still 
higher hill beyond the tunnel, giving a plunging fire on the 
ground in dispute. The gorge between, through which several 
roads and the railway tunnel pass, could not be seen from 
Sherman's position, but formed the natural citadel wdiere the 
enemy covered his masses, to resist the contemplated move- 
ment to turn his right and endanger his communications with 
the depot at Chickamauga, 

The brigades of Colonel Cockerell, of Ewing's division, Colonel 
Alexander, of John E. Smith's, and General Lightburn, of 
Morgan L. Smith's divisions, were to hold their hill as the key 
point ; General Corse, with as much of his brigade of Ewing's 
division as could operate along the narrow ridge, was to attack 
from the right centre ; General Lightburn was to dispatch 
a regiment from his position to co-operate with General 
Corse ; and General Morgan L. Smith was to move along the 
east base of Missionary Kidge, connecting with General Corse, 
and Colonel Loomis, of Ewing's division, in like manner, to 
move along the west base, supported by Matthias' and Baum's 
brigades, of John E. Smith's division, in reserve. 

The sun had already risen before General Corse had com- 
pleted his preparations, and his bugle sounded the " forward." 
The Fortieth Illinois, supported by the Forty-sixth Ohio, 
on the right centre, with the Twentieth Ohio, Colonel Jones, 
moved down the face of the hill, and up that held by the 
enemy. The line advanced to within about eighty yards of 
the intrenched position, where General Corse found a second- 
ary crest, which he gained and held. To this point he called 



142 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

his reserves, and asked for reinforcements, wliich were sent, 
but the space was narrow, and it was not well to crowd the 
men, as the enemy's artillery and musketry fire swept the ap- 
proach. As soon as General Corse had made his preparations 
he assaulted, and a close, severe contest ensued, lasting more 
than an hour, giving and losing ground, but never the posi- 
tion first obtained, from which the enemy in vain attenuated 
to drive him. General Morgan L. Smith steadily gained 
ground on the left spur of Missionary Kidge, and Colonel 
Loomis got abreast of the tunnel and the raikoad embank- 
ment on his side, drawing the enemy's fire, and to that extent 
relieving the assaulting party on the hill-crest. Captain Cal- 
ander had four of his guns on General Swing's hill, and Cap- 
tain Wood his battery of Napoleon guns on General Lightburn's ; 
and two guns of Dillon's battery were with Colonel Alexander's 
brigade. The day was bright and clear. The columns of the 
enemy were streaming towards Sherman, and the enemy's artil- 
lery poured its concentric fire upon him from every hill and 
spur that gave a view of any part of his position. All Sherman's 
batteries directed their fire as carefully as possible to clear the 
hill to the front without endangering our own men. The fight 
raged furiously about ten A. M., when General Corse received 
a severe wound, and was carried off the field, and the com- 
mand of the brigade, and of the assault at that key-point, 
devolved on Colonel Wolcott, of the Forty-sixth Ohio, who 
contmued the contest, pressing forward at all points. Colonel 
Loomis had made good progress to the right ; and at about 
two P. M. General John E. Smith, judging the battle to be 
severe on the hill, and being required to support General 
Ewing, ordered Colonel Baum's and General Matthias' bri- 
gades across the fields to the disputed summit. They moved 
up under a heavy fire of cannon and musketrj^ and joined 
Colonel Wolcott, but the crest was so narrow that they neces- 
sarily occupied the west face of the hill. The enemy at the 
time being massed in great strength in the tunnel gorge, 
moved a large force, under cover of the ground and the thick 
bushes, and suddenly appeared on the right and rear of this 



MAECH TO CHATTANOOGA. 143 

command. The two reserve brigades of Jolin E. Smith's 
division, being thus surprised, and exposed as they were in the 
open ground, fell back in some disorder to the lower end of the 
field, and reformed. This movement, seen from Chattanooga, 
five miles distant, gave rise to the report that Sherman was 
repulsed on the left. The enemy made a show of pursuit, but 
were caught in flank by the well-directed fire of the brigade 
on the wooded crest, and hastily sought cover behind the hill. 
About three P. M., a white line of musketry fire in front of 
Orchard Knoll, extending further right and left and fi'ont, and 
a faint echo of sound, satisfied Sherman that General Thomas 
was moving on the centre. The attack on the left had drawn 
vast masses of the enemy to that flank, so that the result on 
the centre was comparatively assured. 

The advancing line of musketry fire from Orchard Knoll 
disappeared behind a spur of the hill, and could no longer be 
seen, and it was not until night closed that Sherman knew that 
Thomas had swept across Missionary Kidge, and broken the 
enemy's centre. 

The victory was won, and pursuit was the next step. Sher- 
man ordered General Morgan L. Smith to feel the tunnel, 
which was found vacant, save by the commingled dead and 
wounded of both armies. 

The reserve of General Jefferson C. Davis was ordered to 
march at once, by the pontoon bridge across the Chickamauga 
at its^outh, and push forward for the depot. General Howard 
had reported to Sherman, in the early part of the day, with the 
remainder of his corps, the Eleventh, and had been posted to 
connect the left with Chickamauga Creek. He was ordered to 
repair an old broken bridge about two miles up the Chick- 
amauga, and to follow General Davis at four a. m. The 
Fifteenth Army Corps was to march at daylight. But General 
Howard found the repairs too difficult, and all were compelled to 
cross the Chickamauga on the new pontoon bridge. By eleven 
A. M., Jefferson C. Davis' division appeared at the depot, just 
in time to see it in flames. He entered with one bri- 
gade, and found the enemy occupying two hills partially in- 



144 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

trenclied just beyond the depot. These he soon drove 
away. Corn-meal and corn, in huge burning piles, broken 
wagons, abandoned caissons, two thirty-two pounder rifled 
guns with carriages burned, j)ieces of pontoons, balks, 
chesses, etc., destined for the invasion of Kentucky, and all 
manner of things, were found burning and broken. A good 
sujDply of forage for the horses, and meal, beans, and the hke, 
for the men, were also discovered in good condition. 

Pausmg but a short while, Sherman pressed forward, the road 
lined with broken w^agons and abandoned caissons, tiU night. 
Just as the head of his column emerged from a dense, miry 
swamp, it encountered the rear-guard of the retreating army. 
The fight was sharp, but the night closed in so dark that our 
troops could not move. Here Sherman was overtaken by 
General Grant. 

At dayhght the march was resumed, and at Greysville, where 
a good bridge spanned the Chickamauga, the Foui'teenth Corps 
of General Palmer was met on the south bank. From him 
Sherman learned that General Hooker was on a road still 
further south. His guns could be heard near Kinggold. As 
the roads were filled with aU the troops they could accom- 
modate, Sherman then turned to the east to fulfil another 
part of the general plan, by breaking up all communications 
between Bragg and Longstreet. 

General Howard was ordered to move to Parker's Gap, and 
thence send a comjietent force to Ked Clay, or the Council 
Ground, and there destroy a large section of the railway 
which connects Dalton and Cleveland. This work was most 
successfully and completely performed that day. The di- 
vision of General Jefferson C. Davis was moved up close to 
Ringgold, to assist General Hooker, if needed, and the Fif- 
teenth Corps held at Greysville, to take advantage of circum- 
stances. About noon a message came from General Hooker, say- 
ing that he had had a hard fight at the mountain pass just be- 
yond Piinggold, and wanted Sherman to come forward and turn 
the position. Howard, by passing through Parker's Gap to- 
wards E-ed Clay, had abeady done so. Sherman therefore rode 



MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA. 145 

forward to Ringgold, to find that the enemy had fallen back 
to Tunnel Hill, abandoned the valley of Chickamauga and the 
State of Tennessee, and was descending tlie southern slopes, 
whose waters flow to the Atlantic and the Gulf. 

At Ringgold Sherman again met General Grant, and re- 
ceived orders, after breaking up the raih'oad between that 
point and the State hne, to move slowly back to Chattanooga. 

On the following day, the Fifteenth Corps efiectually de- 
stroyed the raiboad from a point half-way between Greys\Tlle 
and Ringgold, back to the State Une ; and General Grant, 
coming to Greysville, consented that, instead of returning to 
Chattanooga, Sherman might send back his artillery, wagons, 
and impediments, and make a circuit to the north as far as 
the Hiawassee River. 

Accordingly, on the morning of November 29th, General 
Howard moved from Parker's Gap to Cleveland, General 
Davis by way of McDaniel's Gap, and General Blair, with two 
divisions of the Fifteenth Ai-my Corps, by way of Juhan's 
Gap ; aU meeting at Cleveland that night. Here another 
effectual break was made in the Cleveland and Dalton road. 
On the 30th, the army moved to Charleston, General Howard 
approaching so rapidly that the enemy evacuated in haste, leav- 
ing the bridge but partially damaged^ and five car-loads of 
flour and provisions on the north bank of the Hiawassee. 

The losses in Sherman's own corps during this brief cam- 
paign were as follows : Osterhaus' first division, 87 killed, 344 
wounded, and 66 missing ; M. L. Smith's second division, 10 
killed, 90 wounded, and 2 missing; John E. Smith's third 
division, 89 killed, 288 wounded, and 122 missing ; Ewing's 
fourth division, 72 killed, 535 wounded, and 21 missing ; total, 
258 killed, 1,257 wounded, and 211 missing. The loss in 
Jefferson C. Davis' division of the Fourteenth Corps was small. 
Bushbeck's brigade of the Eleventh Corps lost 37 killed, 145 
wounded, 81 missing; total, 263. Among the killed were 
Colonels Putnam of the Ninety-third lUinois, O'Meara of the 
Ninetieth Illinois, Torrence of the Thirtieth Iowa, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Taft of the Eleventh Corps, and Major BushneU of 

10 



146 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

the Tliirteentli niinois Volunteers ; wliile in tlie list of wounded 
appeared the names of Brigadier-Generals Giles A. Smith, 
J. M. Corse, and Matthias ; Colonel Baum, Fifty-sixth Illinois ; 
Colonel Wangehne, Twelfth Missouri Volunteers ; Lieutenant- 
Colonel Patridge, Thirteenth IlHnois Volunteers ; Major P. J. 
Welch, Fifty-sixth Illinois Volunteers ; and Major M. Allen, 
Tenth Iowa Volunteers. Lieutenant-Colonel Archer, Seven- 
teenth Iowa, was reported missing. 

The army which eight days before had lain besieged, and 
barely subsisting behind the Missionary range, had shaken off 
its enemy, broken liis strength and his spirit, pushed his 
shattered forces out of reach, and was returning to its camps 
holding the keys of the whole central region, and of the gates 
of Georgia. 



THE RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. I47 



CHAPTEE XII. 

THE EELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. — KEOEGANIZESfG. 

It was General Grant's desire to continue tlie pursuit, but 
Burnside was closely beleaguered at Knoxville and Long- 
street was steadily pushing his approaches. The commander- 
in-chief had instructed Burnside to hold on to the last. " I 
can hardly conceive," he wrote, " the necessity of retreating 
from East Tennessee. If I did it at all, it would be after 
losing most of the army, and then necessity would suggest the 
route. I will not- attempt to lay out a line of retreat." 

On the 3d of December, according to General Burnside's 
report, the supphes would be exhausted. Elhott's division of 
cavalry had already started for Knoxville, and Granger had 
been ordered thither with the Fourth Corps. Finding that the 
latter moved slowly and without energy, on the 28th of Novem- 
ber, General Grant decided to send Sherman mth his com- 
mand, and accordingly gave him orders to take Granger's 
troops and his own, and go with all possible dispatch to the 
relief of the besieged garrison. 

A large part of Sherman's command had marched from 
Memphis, had gone into battle immediately on arriving at 
Chattanooga, and had had no rest since. In the late campaign 
officers and men had carried no luggage or provisions. The 
week before, they had left their camps, on the right bank of the 
Tennessee, with only two days' rations, without a change of 
clothing, stripped for the fight, each officer and man, from the 
commanding general down, ha\dng but a smgle blanket or 
overcoat. They had now no provisions, save what had been 
gathered by the road, and were iU-supplied for such a march. 



148 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Moreover, the weather was intensely cold. But twelve thou- 
sand of their fellow-soldiers were beleaguered in a mountain 
town eighty-four miles distant : they needed reHef, and must 
have it in three days. This was enough. Without a murmur, 
without waiting for any thing, the Army of the Tennessee di- 
rected its course upon Ivnoxville. 

On the night of November 28th, General Howard repaired 
and planked the railroad bridge, and at dawn the army 
passed the Hiawassee, and durmg the day marched to Athens, 
a distance of fifteen mUes. Granger, who was then near the 
mouth of the Hiawassee, was at first ordered to join the main 
column at Kiagston ; but on reaching Athens, Sherman sent 
him directions to meet him at Philadelphia. The small force 
of cavalry which was, at the time of the receipt of General 
Grant's orders, scouting near Benton and Columbus, overtook 
the column at Athens during the night. 

On the 2d of December, the army moved rapidly north, 
towards Loudon, twenty-six miles distant. About 11 a. m., 
the cavahy passed to the head of the column, and was ordered 
to push to Loudon, and, if possible, save the pontoon bridge 
across the Tennessee, held by a brigade of the enemy, com- 
manded by General Vaughn. The cavalry moved with such 
rapidity as to capture every picket ; but Vaughn had artillery 
in position, covered by earthworks, and displayed a force too 
large to be dislodged by a cavalry dash, and darlaiess closed 
in before General Howard's infantry arrived on the ground. 
The enemy evacuated the place in the night, destroying the 
pontoons, running three locomotives and forty-eight cars into 
the Tennessee, and abandoning a large quantity of provisions, 
four guns, and other material, which General Howard took at 
daylight. But the bridge being gone, Sherman was forced 
to turn east, and trust to the bridge at Knoxville. 

It was now all-important that General Burnside should 
have notice of Sherman's approach, and but one more day of 
the time remained. Accordingly, at Pliiladelphia, durmg the 
night of December 2d, Sherman sent an aid-de-camp for- 
ward to Colonel Long, commanding the brigade of cavah-y, 



THE KELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 149 

ordering liim to select tlie best material of liis command, to 
start at once, ford the Little Tennessee, and push into Knox- 
ville at whatever cost of life and horseflesh. The distance to 
be travelled was about forty miles, and the roads villanous. 
Before day the cavalry marched. At dayhght the Fifteenth 
Corps was turned from Philadelphia to the Little Tennessee, at 
Morgantown, where the maps represented the river as very 
shallow ; but it was found impossible to ford it, as the water 
was, in some places, five feet deep, and fi-eezing cold, and the 
stream was two hundred and forty yards wide. A bridge was 
indispensable. Brigadier-General James H. Wilson, who ac- 
companied Sherman, undertook to superintend the work, and 
with only such tools as axes, picks, and spades, working partly 
with crib-work and partly with trestles made of the houses of the 
late town of Morgantown, by dark of December 4th the bridge 
was completed, and by dayhght of the 5th the Fifteenth Corps, 
General Blair, was over, and General Granger's corps and Gen- 
eral Davis' division were ready to pass ; but the diagonal 
bracings were imperfect, for want of proper spikes, and the 
bridge broke, causing delay. 

General Blair had been ordered to march out on the Marys- 
ville road five miles, there to await notice that General Gran- 
ger was on a parallel road abreast of him. At the fork of the 
road a messenger rode up to General Sherman, bringing a few 
words from General Burnside, dated December 4th, stating 
that Colonel Long had arrived at Knoxville with his cavalry, 
and all was well there ; that Longstreet still lay before the 
place, but there were symptoms of a speedy departure. 

As soon as the bridge was mended, all the troops moved 
forward. General Howard had marched from Loudon, had 
found a good ford for his wagons and horses at Davis, seven 
miles fi'om Morgantown, and had made a bridge of the wagons 
left by Vaughn at Loudon. He marched by Unitia and Louis- 
ville. On the night of the 5tli, all the heads of column com- 
municated at Marysville, where an officer of General Burn- 
side's staff arrived with the news that Longstreet had, the 
night before, retreated on the Rutledge, Eodgersville, and 



150 SHERMAN AND HIS CAlfPAIGNS. 

Bristol roads, towards Virginia ; and that General Burn- 
side's cavalry was on liis heels ; and with word that 
the general desired to see General Sherman in person as soon 
as he could come to Knoxville. Ordering all the troops to 
halt and rest, excej)t the two divisions of General Granger, 
which were directed to move forward to Little River and 
report to General Burnside, on the morning of December 6th 
Sherman rode fi'om Marjsville into Knoxville, and there met 
General Burnside. 

The siege had been already raised. Longstreet had 
hurled three brigades against the works, and met with a bloody 
repulse. The inteUigence of Bragg's defeat, and the arrival 
of Colonel Long's cavahy, as the forerunners of the army 
known to be marching for the reHef of the besieged garrison, 
had shown Longstreet the necessity of prompt movement, and 
he had taken the only Hne of retreat that continued practi- 
cable. General Burnside now asked for nothing but General 
Granger's command, and suggested to Sherman, in view of the 
large force he had brought from Chattanooga, that he should 
return with due expedition to the line of the Hiawassee, lest 
Bragg, re-enforced, might take advantage of his absence to 
assume the offensive. 

In the following communication General Burnside took oc- 
casion to express his thanks for the timely relief : 

" IlEADQUAnTEES AuMY OF THE OhIO, 

Knoxville, December 7, 1863. 
" Major-General W. T. Sherman, Commanding, etc. : 

" Genekal — I desu'e to express to you and your command my 
most hearty thanks and gratitude for your promptness in 
coming to our reHef during the siege of Knoxville ; and I am 
satisfied your approach served to raise the siege. 

" The emergency having passed, I do not deem for the pres- 
ent any other portion of your command but the corj)s of 
General Granger necessary for operations in this section ; 
and inasmuch as General Grant has weakened the force imme- 
diately with him in order to relieve us, thereby rendering the 



THE RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 151 

position of General Thomas less secure, I deem it advisable 
that all the troops now here, save those commanded bj Gen- 
eral Granger, should return at once to within supporting 
distance of the forces in front of Bragg's army. 

" In behaK of my command, I deshe again to thank you and 
your command for the kindness you have done us. 

" I am, general, very respectfuly, your obedient servant, 

A. E. BURNSIDE, 
Major-Geueral commanding." 

Having seen the forces of General Burnside move out of 
Knoxville in pursuit of Longstreet, and General Granger's 
move in, Sherman put his own command in motion to return. 

General Howard was ordered to move, by way of Davis' 
Ford and Sweetwater, to Athens, with a guard formed at 
Charleston, to hold and repair the bridge which the enemy 
had retaken after the passage of the army up the river. Gen- 
eral Jefferson C. Davis moved to Columbus on the Hiawassee 
by way of Madisonville, and the two divisions of the Fifteenth 
Corps moved to Tehre Plains, in order to cover a movement of 
cavalry across the mountain into Georgia to overtake a wagon 
train of the enemy's which had escaped by way of Murphy. 
Subsequently, on a report from General Howard that the enemy 
still held Charleston, Sherman directed General Ewing's di- 
vision on Athens, and went in person to Telire with General 
Morgan L. Smith's division. By the 9th, all the troops were 
in position, holding the rich country between the Little Ten- 
nessee and the Hiawassee. The cavahy under Colonel Long 
passed the mountains at Tehre, and proceeded about seventeen 
miles beyond Murphy, when, deeming his further pursuit of 
the wagon train useless, he returned on the 12th to Telire. 
Sherman then ordered him and the division of General 
Morgan L. Smith to move to Charleston, to which point ha 
had previously ordered the corps of General Howard. 

On the 14th of December, all of the command lay en- 
camped along the Hiawassee. Having communicated to Gen- 
eral Grant the actual state of affairs, Sherman received orders 



152 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

to leave on tlie line of tlie Hiawassee all the cavalry and proceed 
to Cliattanooga with the balance of his command. Leaving 
at Charleston the brigade of cavaby commanded by Colonel 
Long, re-enforced by the Fifth Ohio cavahy, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Heath, which was the only cavaky properly belonging 
to the Fifteenth Army Corps, with the remainder Sherman 
moved by easy marches by way of Cleveland and Tymus 
Depot into Chattanooga. There he received orders fi'om 
General Grant to transfer back to the appropriate commands 
the Eleventh Corps of General Howard and the division of the 
Fourteenth Corps, commanded by General Jefferson C. Davis, 
and to conduct the Fifteenth Ai'my Corps to its new field of 
operations in Northern Alabama. 

In closing his report of the memorable campaign thus closed, 
Sherman wrote to General Grant : — 

" It will thus appear that we have been constantly in motion 
since our departure from the Big Black, until the present mo- 
ment. 

" In reviewing the facts, I must do justice to my command 
for the patience, cheerfulness, and courage which officers and 
men have displayed throughout, in battle, on the march, and 
in camp. For long periods, without regular rations or sup- 
plies of any kind, they have marched through mud and over 
rocks, sometimes barefooted, without a murmur, without a 
moment's rest. After a march of over four hundred miles, 
without stop for three successive nights, we crossed the Ten- 
nessee, fought our part of the battle of Chattanooga, pursued 
the enemy out of Tennessee, and then turned more than one 
hundred miles north, and compelled Longstreet to raise the 
siege of Knoxville, which gave so much anxiety to the whole 
country. 

" It is hard to realize the importance of these events without 
recalling the memory of the general feehng which pervaded all 
minds at Chattanooga prior to our arrival. I cannot speak of 
the Fifteenth Army Corps without a seeming vanity, but as I 
am no longer its commander, I assert that there is no better 










C. B-Richardson ,Pubiis"her 



^.JJ(: Vi' WiIson.Frmters . 



THE RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 153 

body of soldiers in America than it, or who have done more or 
better ser\T[ce. I wish all to feel a just pride in its real honors. 
To General Howard and his command, to General Jefferson C. 
Davis and his, I am more than usually indebted for the intelli- 
gence of commanders and fidehty of command. The brigade 
of Colonel Buschbeck, belonging to the Eleventh Corps, which 
was the first to come out of Chattanooga to my flank, fought 
at the Tunnel Hill in connection with General Swing's divi- 
sion, and displayed a courage almost amountiag to rashness : 
following the enemy almost to the tunnel gorge, it lost many 
valuable lives, prominent among them Lieutenant-Colonel 
Taft, spoken of as a most gallant soldier. 

" In General Howard throughout I found a pohshed and 
Christian gentleman, exhibiting the highest and most chival- 
rous traits of the soildier. 

" General Davis handled his division with artistic skiU, more 
especially at the moment we encountered the enemy's rear- 
guard near Greysville, at nightfall. I must award to this di- 
vision the credit of the best order during our marches through 
East Tennessee, when long marches and the necessit}^ of for- 
aging to the right and left gave some reasons for disordered 
ranks. 

" I must say that it is but justice that colonels of regiments 
who have so long and so weU commanded brigades, as in the 
following cases, should be commissioned to the grade which 
they have filled with so much usefulness and credit to the pub- 
lic service, namely : Colonels J. E. CockereU, Seventieth Ohio 
volunteers ; J. M. Loomis, Twenty-sixth Illinois ; C. E. Wol- 
cott, Forty-sixth Ohio ; J. A. "Williamson, Fourth Iowa ; G. B. 
Baum, Fifty-sixth nUnois ; J. J. Alexander, Fifty-ninth In- 
diana. " 

Taking advantage of the inactivity at Chattanooga, Sherman 
now turned his attention to his own immediate department, 
and returned to Memphis and Vicksburg to inspect and reor- 
ganize his command. He reached Memphis on the 10th of 
January. 



154 SHERMAN AND HIS CAJVIPAIGNS. 

While preparing for future military operations, it was ne- 
cessary for him to meet and dispose of many questions of a 
ci\dl nature presented to him by his subordinates. With re- 
gard to the treatment of the inhabitants of a conquered 
country, he wrote on the 24th January, 1864, to Lieutenant- 
Colonel E. M. Sawyer, assistant adjutant-general at depart- 
ment headquarters at Huntsville : — 

" The Southern people entered into a clear compact of gov- 
ernment, but still maintained a species of separate interests, 
history, and prejudices. These latter became stronger and 
stronger, tiU they have led to a war which has developed 
fruits of the bitterest kind. 

" We of the North are, beyond all question, right in our lawful 
cause, but we are not bound to ignore the fact that the people 
of the South have prejudices, which form a part of their 
nature, and which they cannot throw off without an effort of 
reason or the slower process of natural change. Now, the 
question arises, should we treat as absolute enemies all in the 
South who differ from us in opinion or prejudice, — kill or 
banish them ? or should we give them time to think and grad- 
ually change their conduct, so as to conform to the new order 
of things which is slowly and gradually creeping into their 
country ? 

" When men take arms to resist our rightful authority, we 
are compelled to use force, because all reason and argument 
cease when arms are resorted to. When the provisions, for- 
age, horses, mules, wagons, etc., are used by our enemy, it is 
clearly our duty and right to take them, because otherwise 
they might be used against us. 

" In hke manner, aU houses left vacant by an inimical people 
are clearly our right, or such as are needed as storehouses, 
hospitals, and quarters. But a question arises as to dwellings 
used by women, children, and non-combatants. So long as 
non-combatants remain in their houses and keep to their 
accustomed business, their opinions and prejudices can in no 
wise influence the war, and, therefore, should not be noticed. 



THE RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE. 155 

But if any one conies out into tlie public streets and creates 
disorder, lie or slie sliould be punished, restrained, or ban- 
ished, either to the rear or front, as the officer in command 
adjudges. If the people, or any of them, keep up a corres- 
pondence with parties in hostihty, they are spies, and can be 
punished with death, or minor punishment. 

" These are well-estabUshed principles of war, and the peo- 
ple of the South, having appealed to war, are barred fi'om 
appealing to our Constitution, which they have practically and 
pubhcly defied. They have appealed to war, and must abide 
its rules and laws. 

" The United States, as a belligerent party claiming right 
in the soil as the ultimate sovereign, have a right to 
change the population ; and it may be, and is, both politic 
and just, we should do so in certain districts. When the 
inhabitants persist too long in hostility, it may be both 
poHtic and right we should banish them and appropriate their 
lands to a more loyal and useful population. No man will 
deny that the United States would be benefited by dispossess- 
ing a single prejudiced, hard-headed, and disloyal planter, and 
substituting in his place a dozen or more patient, industrious, 
good families, even if they be of foreign birth. I think it does 
good to present this view of the case to many Southern gentle- 
men, who grew rich and wealthy, not by virtue alone of their 
industry and skill, but by reason of the protection and impetus 
to prosperity given by our hitherto moderate and magnani- 
mous Government. It is all idle nonsense for these Southern 
planters to say that they made the South, that they own it, 
and that they can do as they please, — even to break up our 
Government and to shut up the natural avenues of trade, 
intercourse, and commerce 

" Whilst I assert for our Government the highest mihtary 
prerogatives, I am wilHng to bear in patience that political 
nonsense of slave-rights. State-rights, freedom of conscience, 
freedom of press, and such other trash, as have deluded the 
Southern people into war, anarchy, bloodshed, and the foulest 
crimes that have disgi'aced any time or any people. 



156 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" I would advise tlie commauding officers at Huntsville, and 
such other towns as are occupied by our troops, to assemble 
the inhabitants and explain to them these plain, self-evident 
propositions, and tell them that it is for them noiv to say 
whether they and their children shall inherit the beautiful 
land which by the accident of nature has fallen to their share. 
The Government of the United States has in North Alabama 
any and aU rights which they choose to enforce in war, — to 
take their lives, then- homes, their lands, their every thing ; 
because they cannot deny that war does exist there ; and war 
is simjDly power, unrestrained by Constitution or compact. If 
they want eternal war, well and good : we will aeceipt the issue 
and dispossess them and put our fiiends in possession. I 
know thousands and millions of good j)eople who, at simple 
notice, would come to North Alabama and accept the elegant 
houses and plantations now there. If the people of HuntsviUe 
think differently, let them persist in war three years longer, and 
then they will not be consulted. Three years ago, by a Httle 
reflection and patience, they could have had a hundred years 
of peace and prosperity, but they preferred war. Very well. 
Last year they could have saved their slaves, but now it is too 
late : all the powers of earth cannot restore to them their 
slaves, any more than their dead grandfathers. Next year 
their lands will be taken, — for in war we can take them, and 
rigJtffuUy too, — and in another year they may beg in vain for 
their Hves. A people who will persevere in war beyond a cer- 
tain limit ought to know the consequences. Many, many peo- 
ple, with less pertinacity than the South, have been wiped out 
of national existence." 

On the 26th, in a hasty reply to a letter from a citizen, on 
the same subject, with special reference to the treatment of 
slavery, the cultivation of abandoned plantations, and the pro- 
posed calling of a convention of the people of Tennessee, he 
wrote : 

" Slavery is already dead in Tennessee. 

" The moment a negro cannot be bought and sold, or when 



THE RELIEF AT KNOXVILLE. 157 

Le can run off without danger of recapture, the question is 
settled. Conventions cannot revive slavery. It should be 
treated as a minor question. 

" If a Convention is called in Tennessee it should be without 
regard to slavery, or any other single question. When assem- 
bled, the members would naturally discuss any and all ques- 
tions, and no doubt would waste more sound on the history of 
Greece and Home than on the commonplace business be- 
fore it." 

Under date of the 27th he addressed a fuU letter of instruc- 
tions to Brigadier-General R. P. Buckland, who was to be left 
in command of the district of Memphis. In the course of it 
he said : 

" You know how much stress I have put on honesty in the 
character of a United States officer. 

" Merchants naturally make gains. It is their calling, but 
an officer has a salary, and nothing else, and if you see by an 
officer's style of living, or any external symptoms, that he is 
spending more than his pay, or if you observe him interested 
in the personal affairs of business men, stop it, and send him 
to some other duty. Don't let officers settle down into com- 
fortable houses, but make camps, and collect in them all this 
floating mass, and send them to their regiments 

" You can confer in the most friendly spirit with the people 
here and in the country. Assure them that if they act in good 
faith to the United States, we will fully reciprocate. They 
must, however Act, — good faith of itself is of no value in war. 

" As an army we will take care of all large hostile bodies, 
but cannot undertake to do the work of local police. 

" We have heretofore done too much of this, and you can, in 
your own way, gradually do less and less of it, till finally the 
city and county authorities can take it all off our hands. 

" Memphis as a military depot must be held with the tenacity 
of Hfe ! The fort must be impregnable, the river secure, and 
the levee, and incidentally the town, or so much of it as gives 
storage and offices ; but if these are at all in danger, move 
them to the cover of the fort. 



158 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" Encourage tlie militia in all manner of ways. I know the 
poorer classes, the working men, are Union, and I would not 
mind the croaking of the richer classes. Their power is pass- 
ing from their hands, and they talk of the vulgarity of the new 
regime ; but such arguments will be lost on you. Power and 
success will soon replace this class of grumblers, and they will 
gradually disappear as a pohtical power." 



THE MERIDIAN RAID. I59 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE MERIDIAN EAID. — A NEW COMMAND. 

McPheeson's seventeenth corps was still at Vicksburg ; 
part of Hnrlbut's sixteenth corps, with Smith's and Grier- 
son's divisions of cavalry, at Memphis. Lieutenant-General 
Polk, who commanded the Confederate forces in Mississippi, 
was at Meridian with French's division, and had Loring's di- 
vision at Canton; Forrest was, mth twenty-five hundred ir- 
regular cavahy, in the northern part of the State ; Cash's and 
Whitfield's brigades of cavalry patroUing from Yazoo City, 
along the Big Black to Port Gibson ; and Wirt Adams' bri- 
gade doing similar duty in the rear of Port Hudson and 
Baton Rouge. 

To the Army of the Tennessee was assigned by General 
Grant the duty of keeping open the Mississippi River and 
maintaining intact our control of the east bank. 

Sherman decided to do this by occupjdng prominent points 
in the interior with small corps of observation, threatening a 
considerable radius ; and to oj)erate against any strong force 
of the enemy seeking to take a position on the river, by a 
movable column menacing its rear. To destroy the enemy's 
means of approaching the river with artillery and trains, he 
determined to organize a large column of infantry and move 
with it to Meridian, effectually breaking up the Southern 
Mississippi railway ; whUe a cavalry force should move from 
Memphis to meet him, and perform the same work with 
respect to the Mobile and Ohio railway. 

Brigadier-General Wilham Soyj Smith, chief of cavahy on 
General Grant's staff, was placed in command of all the cavahy 



160 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

of tlie department, and instructed to move with it from Mem- 
phis on or before the 1st of February, by way of Pontotoc, 
Okalona, and Cohimbus, to Meridian, a distance of two hun- 
dred and fifty miles, so as to reach that place by the 10th. 
General Smith was specially instructed to disregard all small 
detachments of the enemy and all minor operations, and 
striking rai3idly and effectually any large body of the enemy, 
to be at his destination precisely at the appointed time. 
Simultaneously the Eleventh Illinois Volunteers and a colored 
regiment, under Colonel Coates, of the former regiment, with 
five tin-clad gunboats under Lieutenant-Commander Owen, 
were sent up the Yazoo to ascend that stream and its tributa- 
ries as far as possible, so as to create a diversion and protect 
the plantations on the 'river ; and Brigadier-General Hawkins 
was directed to patrol the country in the rear of Vicksburg 
towards the Big Black, and to collect some fifty skiffs, by 
means of which detachments of two or three hundred men 
might be moved at pleasure through the labyrinth of bayous 
between the Yazoo and the Mississippi, for the purpose of 
suppressing the depredations of the horde of guerillas then 
infestmg that region. 

Having made all these arrangements, Sherman himself, 
with two divisions of the Sixteenth Corps under Hurlbut, 
two divisions of the Seventeenth Corps under McPherson, 
and a brigade of cavalry under Colonel E. F. Winslow, 
Fourth Iowa Cavalry, marched from Vicksburg on the 3d 
of February. The expedition moved out in two columns, 
Hurlbut's corps by Messenger's, McPherson's along the rail- 
way. The former met the enemy at Joe Davis' plantation, 
the latter at Chamj^ion Hills, on the 5th, and for eighteen 
miles kept up a continual skirmish, without delaying the 
march of the troops, and entered Jackson the same night ; 
thus entirely disconcerting the enemy's plan, which was at 
that moment in process of execution, of concentrating at that 
place Lormg's and French's divisions, and Lee's division of 
cavahy. On the 6th, both columns being united, and Mc- 
Pherson taking the lead, crossed the Pearl River on a pontoon 



THE MERIDAN RAID. 161 

bridge captured from the enemy tlie day before ; on tbe 
7tli marched into Brandon ; on the 8th reached Live Creek, 
five miles west of Morton ; and on the 9th entered Mor- 
ton, where McPherson's corps halted to destroy the railways 
for five miles around, and Hurlbut took the advance. From 
this point the troops moved by easy marches, with no greater 
opposition than the annoyance of foraging parties and strag- 
glers by the enemy's cavaky hovering on the flanks, through 
Hillsboro' and Decatur to the Tallahatchie Eiver, twenty-five 
miles west of Meridian, where the road was found obstructed 
by felled trees. Leaving the trains under sufficient guard, 
Sherman pushed on over these obstructions for the Ocktib- 
beha Eiver, where he found the bridge burning ; but in two 
hours the troops had built a new one, and at three and a half 
o'clock on the afternoon of the same day entered Meridian, 
with shght opposition. French's and Loring's divisions, of 
the Confederate troops, with General Polk in person, had evac- 
uated the place during the morning and the preceding night, 
Lee's cavalry covering their retreat ; and aU the locomotives 
and cars, except one train found burning, had been removed 
towards Mobile and Selma. It was e\ddently impossible to 
overtake the enemy before they should cross the Tombigbee. 
The army therefore rested on the 15th, and on the 16th com- 
menced the destruction of the railways centring in Meridian. 
The depots, storehouses, arsenals, ofl&ces, hospitals, hotels 
and cantonments in the town were burned, and during the 
next five days, with axes, sledges, crowbars, clambars and fire, 
Hurlburt's corps destroyed on the north and east sixty miles 
of ties and iron, one locomotive, and eight bridges ; and Mc- 
Pherson's corps, on the south and west, fifty-five miles of rail- 
way, fifty-three bridges, 6,075 feet of trestle-work, nineteen 
locomotives, twenty-eight steam-cars, and three steam saw- 
mills. Thus was completed the destruction of the railways 
for one hundred miles from Jackson to Meridian, and for 
twenty miles around the latter place, in so effectual a manner 
that they could not be used against us in the approaching 
campaigns. 

11 



162 SHERMAN AND HTS CAMPAIGNS. 

The cavalry, under General W. Sovy Smith, had not arrived. 
As was afterwards learned, that officer had not left Memphis 
until the 11th of February ; and had proceeded no further 
than West Point, fi-om which place he turned back on the 
22d, and rapidly retraced his steps to Memphis, 

Ascertaining that the enemy's infantry had crossed the 
Tombigbee on the 17th of February, and hearing nothing 
of Smith, on the 20th General Sherman ordered McPherson to 
move slowly back on the main road, while he himself, with Hurl- 
but's corps and the cavahy, marched north, to feel for Smith. 
Sherman moved through Marion and Muckalusha-Old-Town 
to Union, whence he dispatched Colonel Winslow with three 
regiments of cavalry to Philadelphia and Louisville, fifty miles 
distant, towards Columbus, on the road by which Smith was 
expected to come ; while the main body moved to Hillsboro', 
where, on the 23d, it was joined by McPherson's corps. On 
the 24th the army continued the march on two roads, and on 
the 25th and 26th crossed the Pearl Piiver at Ratchcliffe Ferry 
and Edwards' Station, and bivouacked near Canton, leaving a 
division at the crossing to look for the cavalry. From Louis- 
ville, Colonel Winslow sent out two scouts to seek for Smith, 
and, swinging round through Kosciusko as ordered, rejoined 
the army at Canton, mthout news of the missing cavalry. The 
return march was unmolested. 

About one thousand white refugees, four hundred prisoners, 
five thousand negroes, three thousand animals, and a large 
number of wagons, were brought in by the troops on their 
return. Our total loss was in killed, twenty-one ; wounded, 
sixty-eight ; missing, eighty-one ; total, one hundred and 
seventy. During the entire expedition, the army subsisted 
chiefly upon the stores belonging to the enemy, and such as 
were found in the country. In spite of the failure of the 
cavalry, the isolation of Mississippi, which was the main object 
of the expedition, was accomphshed, and after marching from 
three hundred and sixty to four hundred and fifty-three miles, 
and driving the enemy out of the State, within four weeks the 
army returned in better health and condition than when it 



THE MERIDIAN RAID. 163 

started, confident in itself, and schooled for the trying cam- 
paigns before it. 

On the 28th of February, leaving the army at Canton, 
Sherman went to Yicksburg ; thence sent back orders to Hurl- 
but to come in on the 3d of March, and at once proceeded to 
New Orleans, to confer with General Banks and Admiral 
Porter, in regard to the details of the combined movement up 
the Red River. 

General Banks had asked General Sherman for a force of 
ten thousand men, to leave Vicksburg on the 7th of March, 
and remain with him thirty days, and Sherman had promised 
to comply with this request. His idea was for a heavy 
column, supported by the iron-clad gunboats, to move up the 
Red River during high-water to Alexandria, and thence, if the 
gunboats could pass the rapids as far as Shreveport, to fortify 
and hold in force one or the other of those places ; and thus to 
perform for the west bank of the river the same ser\dce, in pre- 
venting any large body of the enemy from reaching the Mis^ 
sissippi, that the destruction of the railroads and the occupa- 
tion of the line of the Big Black was expected to accomplish 
on the east bank. General Banks now informed him that he 
would in person march on the 5th or 7th from Franklin, 
Louisiana, up the Bayou Teche, with a picked force of 
seventeen thousand men, and would reach Alexandria by the 
17th of March, and requested that the troops from the Army 
of the Tennessee and Admiral Porter's fleet should meet him 
there at that time. Simultaneously, Steele was to move from 
Little Rock on Shreveport or Natchitoches, with ten thousand 
men. 

Sherman at once returned to Vicksburg, and on the 6th of 
March gave the necessary instructions to Brigadier-General 
A. J. Smith, who had been previously directed to organize 
and command the expedition, which was to consist of seven 
thousand five hundred men of Hurlbut's sixteenth corps, and 
twenty-five hundred men of McPherson's seventeenth corps. 
General Smith was to report to General Banks, and obey his 
orders. He was to move up the river on transports, while the 



164 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

troops from the Department of the GuK marched by land. 
The duration of his absence was not to extend beyond thirty 
days. At the end of that time he was to return to Vicksburg, 
gather up all the detachments, equipage, and transportation of 
the Sixteenth Corps, and conduct the troops under his com- 
mand belonging to that corps to Memphis, where he was told he 
would probably find orders to join the Army of the Tennessee 
at Huntsville or Bridgeport. 

We need not follow the steps of this expedition in detail. 
General Smith landed at Simmesport, on the west bank of the 
Atchafalaya, on the 13th of March, took Fort De Russy by 
assault on the 14th, and reached Alexandria on the 16th. The 
advance-guard of the cavaby of the Army of the Gulf arrived 
the same day, and the main body of that army several days 
later. The river was very high. The head of the column left 
Alexandria on the 27th. The army marched from Grand 
Ecore, where it had halted, on the 6th of April ; — the main body 
by land ; one division under General T. Kilby Smith on trans- 
ports accompanying Admiral Porter, who started on the same 
day, aiming to reach Springfield Landing on the 10th, where 
General Banks undertook to be at that time. On the 8th, Gen- 
eral Banks was met near Mansfield, and his attenuated column 
beaten in detail, by an inferior but concentrated force of the 
enemy, under General E. Kirby Smith. The army retreated in 
considerable disorder to Pleasant Hill, thirty -five miles distant, 
and there on the 9th again encountered the enemy, checked 
his pursuit, and routed him. The next day General Banks con- 
tinued the retreat to Grand Ecore. Admiral Porter and Gen- 
eral Smith reached Springfield Landing at the appointed time, 
heard of the disaster, and returned, with difiiculty, to Grand 
Ecore. Here the army waited nearly three weeks, when hav- 
ing been re-enforced by all the available troops in the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf, General Banks continued the retreat to 
Alexandria. The river had fallen. The gunboats and trans- 
ports could not pass the rapids. By means of a dam, con- 
structed at the suggestion and under the supervision of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry, 



THE MERIDIAN RAID. 165 

fclie water in tlie river was raised sufficiently to allow the boats 
to descend, and on the 14th of May the army marched on 
Simmesport. On the 21st it reached Morganzia Bend, on the 
west bank of the Mississippi. General Smith at once em- 
barked his command and returned to Yicksburg, after an 
absence of just two months and a half, instead of the thirty 
days originally agreed upon. 

In the mean while, nearly ten thousand veteran volunteers 
of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps, and the local garri- 
sons, had been furloughed for thirty days, on condition of re- 
enhsting, and had returned \nth the ranks of their regiments 
swelled by recruits. Early in March, Veatch's division of the 
Sixteenth Corps had been ordered to report to General Dodge 
at Huntsville. 

On the 4th of March, at Nashville, Major-General Grant re- 
ceived telegraphic orders to report in person at "Washington. 
Congress had passed an act authorizing the appointment of a 
lieutenant-general to command the armies of the United States, 
and the president had nominated General Grant for the ap- 
pointment. Before starting on his journey, Grant seized his 
pen, and in the very moment of his greatest elevation, filled 
with generosity towards those others, to whose exertions he 
modestly chose to ascribe his own deserved reward, hastily 
wrote these touching lines : — 

"Deae Sherman — The biU reviving the grade of lieuten- 
ant-general in the army has become a law, and my name has 
been sent to the Senate for the place. I now receive orders 
to report to Washington immediately in 'person, which indicates 
a confirmation, or a likelihood of confirmation. 

" I start va. the morning to comply with the order. 

" Whilst I have been eminently successful in this war, in at 
least gaining the confidence of the pubHc, no one feels more 
than I how much of this success is due to the energy, skOl, 
and the harmonious putting forth of that energy and skill, of 
those whom it has been my good fortune to have occupying 
subordinate positions under me. 



166 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" There are many officers to whom these remarks are appli- 
cable to a greater or less degree, proportionate to their ability 
as soldiers ; but what I want is to express my thanks to you 
and McPherson, as the men to whom, above all others, I feel 
indebted for whatever I have had of success. 

" How far your advice and assistance have been of help to 
me, you know. How far your execution of whatever has been 
given you to do entitles you to the reward I am receiving, you 
cannot know as well as I. 

" I feel aU the gratitude this letter would express, giving it 
the most flattering construction. 

" The word you I use in the plural, intending it for McPher- 
son also. I should write to him, and wiU some day, but start- 
ing in the morning, I do not know that I will find time just now. 
" Your fi-iend, 

"U. S. Grant, 

" Major-General." 

Sherman received this letter near Memphis, on the 10th of 
March, and immediately rephed : — 

" Dear General : — I have your more than kind and charac- 
teristic letter of the 4th inst. I will send a copy to General 
McPherson at once. 

" You do yourself injustice and us too much honor in assig-n- 
ing to us too large a share of the merits which have led to 
your high advancement. I know you approve the friendshij) 
I have ever professed to you, and will permit me to continue, 
as heretofore, to manifest it on all proper occasions. 

"You are now Washington's legitimate successor, and oc- 
cupy a position of almost dangerous elevation ; but if you can 
continue, as heretofore, to be yourself, simple, honest, and un- 
pretending, you will enjoy through life the respect and love of 
friends and the homage of millions of human beings, that will 
award you a large share in securing to them and their descend- 
ants a government of law and stability. 

" I repeat, you do General McPherson and myseK too much 
honor. At Belmont you manifested your traits — neither of us 



THE MERIDIAN RAID. 167 

being near. At Donelson, also, you yiustrated your whole 
character. I was not near, and General McPherson in too sub- 
ordinate a capacity to influence you. 

"Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost 
cowed by the terrible array of anarchical elements that pre- 
sented themselves at every point ; but that admitted a ray of 
Hght I have followed since. 

"I beheve you are as brave, patriotic, and just, as the 
gi-eat prototype, Washington — as unselfish, kind-hearted, and 
honest as a man should be — but the chief characteristic is the 
simple faith in success you have always manifested, which I 
can hken to nothing else than the faith a Christian has in the 
Saviour. 

" This faith gave you victory at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Also, 
when you have completed your best preparations, you go into 
battle without hesitation, as at Chattanooga — no doubts — ^no 
reserves ; and I tell you, it was this that made us act with 
confidence. I knew, wherever I was, that you thought of me, 
and if I got in a tight place, you would help me out, if ahve. 

" My only point of doubts was, in your knowledge of grand 
strategy, and of books of science and history ; but, I confess, 
your common sense seems to have suppHed all these. 

" Now as to the future. Don't stay in Washington, Come 
West : take to yourseH the whole Mississippi Valley. Let us 
make it dead-sure — and I tell you, the Atlantic slopes and 
Pacific shores will foUow its destiny, as sure as th.e hmbs of a 
tree Uve or die with the main trunk. We have done much, but 
stiU much remains. Time, and time's influences, are with us. 
We could almost afford to sit stiU, and let these influences work. 

" Here lies the seat of the coming empire ; and fi'om the 
West, when our task is done, we will make short work of 
Charleston and Eichmond, and the impoverished coast of the 
Atlantic. 

" Your sincere fiiend." 

On the 12th of March, 1864, the President relieved Major- 
General Halleck from duty as general-in-chief, and assigned 



IQQ SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Lieutenant-General Grant to the command of tlie armies of 
the United States, with headquarters in the field, and also at 
Wasliington, where General Halleck was to remain as chief-of- 
staff. By the same order, Sherman was assigned to the com- 
mand of the Mihtary Division of the Mississippi, and Major- 
General McPherson to the command of the Department and 
Army of the Tennessee. 

Sherman received this order at Memphis, on the 14th, while 
on his way to Huntsville, to prepare for the great campaign in 
Georgia. In accordance with the request of General Grant, 
accompanying the order, he immediately proceeded to Nash- 
ville, where he arrived on the 17th, and accompanied the 
Heutenant-general as far on his way to Washington as Cin- 
cinnati. During the journey, they had a full and free con- 
ference as to the plan of operations in the approaching cam- 
paign, and a complete understanding of the work to be done by 
each. In a parlor of the Burnet House, at Cincinnati, bend- 
ing over their maps, the two generals, who had so long been 
inseparable, planned together that colossal structure whereof 
the great campaigns of Richmond and Atlanta were but two 
of the parts, and, grasping one another firmly by the hand, 
separated, one to the east, the other to the west, each to strike 
at the same instant his haK of the ponderous death-blow. 





canic. 



THE ARMY OF THE CENTRE. 169 



CHAPTER XIY. 

THE ARMY OF THE CENTEE. 

As tlie army corps had relieved the commanders of depart- 
ments from the care of the great mass of minor and personal 
details relating to the troops under them, so the organization 
of mihtary divisions, now for the first time introduced into 
our service — although something similar had been intended 
when General McClellan w^as first called to Washington — left 
the generals selected to command them entirely free to devote 
their minds to the organization, administration, and movement 
of their armies against the enemy. Tactical details devolved 
upon the department commanders. The unit habitually con- 
templated by the commander of the mihtary division became 
an army ; his detachments were army corps. 

The military division of the Mississippi, in the personal 
command of which Sherman had just reheved the heutenant- 
general, consisted of the four large departments of the Ohio, 
the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and Arkansas. Embracing 
the great central belt of territory from the Alleghanies to the 
western boundary of Arkansas, it included the entire theatre 
of war from Chattanooga to Vicksburg. Four large Union 
armies occupied this central zone. 

The army of the Ohio, consisting of the Ninth and Twenty- 
tliird Army Corps, was at Knoxville. Major-General John 
M. Schofield had just taken command of it. Longstreet had 
disappeared from its front, and was retreating into Virginia to 
join Lee, and the Ninth Corps was on the way to re-enforce the 
army of the Potomac. The Twenty-third Corps, as it presently 
took the field, consisted of the divisions of Brigadier-Generals 
Miles S. Hascall and Jacob D. Cox. Three divisions remained 
to garrison East Tennessee and Kentucky. 



170 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

The Army of the Cumberland was at Chattanooga, under 
the command of Major-General George H. Thomas. It con- 
sisted of the Fourth, Fourteenth, and Twentieth corps, com- 
manded respectively by Major-Generals Ohver O. Howard, 
John M. Palmer, and Joseph Hooker. The Fourth Corps 
included the divisions of Brigadier-Generals D. S. Stanley, 
John Newton, and Thomas J. Wood ; the Fourteenth, those of 
Jefferson C. Davis, R. "W. Johnson, and Absalom Baird; 
and the Twentieth, those of A. S. WiUiams, John W. Geary, and 
Daniel Butterfield. 

The Army of the Tennessee, comprising the Fifteenth, and 
portions of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps, under 
Major-Generals John A. Logan, George M. Dodge, and Frank 
P. Blair, Jr., was at Hunts ville, commanded by McPherson, 
The remaining divisions of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth 
Corps were at Memphis and Yicksburg, under Hurlbut and 
Slocum, except those absent on the Bed Biver expedition. 
The Fifteenth Corps embraced the divisions of Generals P. J. 
Osterhaus, Morgan L. Smith, John E. Smith, and Harrow ; 
the Sixteenth, those of Thomas E. G. Bansom, John M. Corse, 
and Thomas AV. Sweeney ; and the Seventeenth, those of 
Charles B. Woods and Miles D. Leggett. 

The cavalry consisted of McCook's division of the Army of 
the Ohio, Kilpatrick's and Garrard's divisions of the Ai'my of 
the Cumberland, and Edward McCook's brigade of the Army 
of the Tennessee. 

The Department of Arkansas, including the whole of that 
State, was commanded by Major-General Frederick Steele, 
who, with the main portion of his trooj)s, was at Little Bock, 
holding the line of the Arkansas Biver, with the object of 
keeping an army of the enemy away from the Mississippi and 
out of Missouri. This department, however, did not long 
continue attached to Sherman's command, being added to the 
Military Division of West Mississippi, under Canby, when 
that organization was formed in May. 

John McAUister Schofield, the son of a clergyman, the 
Beverend James Schofield, residing in Chatauqua County, in 



THE ARMY OF THE CENTPtE. 171 

the state of New York, was born there on the 29th of Sep- 
tember, 1831. When about twelve years of age his father 
took him to reside at Bristol, Illinois, whence, in 1845, they 
removed to Freeport, in the same State. In June, 1849, 
young Schofield entered the Military Academy at West Point, 
and graduated four years later, standing seventh in the order 
of general merit in the same class with Generals McPherson, 
Sheridan, Sill, Terrill, R. O. Tyler, and the rebel General 
Hood. He was appointed a brevet second-lieutenant, and at- 
tached to the Second Regiment of Artillery, on the 1st of July, 
1853, and in regular course of promotion advanced to the 
grades of second-lieutenant in the Fiist Regiment of Artillery 
on the 30th of August in the same year ; first-heutenant in the 
same regiment on the 1st of March, 1855 ; and captain on the 
14th of May, 1861. After serving for two years with his 
company in South Carolina and Florida, in the fall of 1855, 
Lieutenant Schofield was ordered to West Point, as Assistant 
Professor of Natural and Experimental Pliilosophy ; which 
position he held until June, 1860, when he obtained leave of 
absence for twelve months to accept the Chair of Physics 
in Washington University, at St. Louis, Missouri, intending 
to quit the army at the end of the leave. This design he 
abandoned immediately upon the pubhcation of the Presi- 
dent's proclamation of the 15th of April, 1861, calling for 
seventy-five thousand volunteers, and waiving the remainder 
of his leave, reported himself for orders and was assigned to 
duty as mustering officer at St. Louis. Shortly afterwards, 
by permission of the War Department, Lieutenant Schofield 
accepted the position of major of the First Regiment of 
Missouri Yolunteers, offered him by the governor of the 
State, and in that caj)acity participated with his regiment in 
the bold capture and dispersion of the nest of secessionists at 
Camp Jackson on the 10th of May, planned and executed 
by Captain, afterwards Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon. 
Major Schofield soon afterwards became General Lyon's 
principal staff-officer, and served with that gallant commander 
throughout the campaign which ended in his death. In the 



172 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

fall, the First Missouri Volunteers was converted into a heavy 
artillery regiment, and Major Schofield charged with its 
equijoment. At Fredericktown, Missouri, he participated with 
Battery A, the first one mounted, in the defeat of Jeff. 
Thompson, by Plummer and Carlin. On the 20th of No- 
vember, 1861, Major Schofield was appointed by the President 
a brigadier-general of volunteers — and at the same time 
received fi'om the governor of Missouri a corresponding 
commission in the Missouri Mihtia, with orders to organize, 
equip, and command a force of ten thousand militia, to be 
called into the service of the United States, within the limits 
of Missouri, during the war. With this force General Schofield 
was enabled to relieve the main armies for active service in 
more important fields. In the spring of 1862, he was desig- 
nated by Major-General Halleck, commanding the Depart- 
ment of the West, as commander of the district of Missouri, 
and in the fall organized and took personal command of the 
Army of the Frontier, serving in the southwestern portion of 
the State. He relinquished the former command in September, 
to give his undivided attention to the suppression of the 
terrible guerrilla warfare which then raged in Missouri. On 
the 29th of November, 1862, the President appointed him a 
major-general of volunteers, but his straightforward, decided, 
and just administration of affairs as commander of the district 
of Missouri having greatly dissatisfied the local politicians, 
they made a combined and determined effort to defeat his 
nomination, and so far succeeded that the Senate failed to act 
upon it, and his commission consequently expired on the 3d 
of March, 1863, by constitutional limitation. Immediately 
relieved, at his own request, from duty in Missouri, Brigadier- 
General Schofield was now ordered to report to Major-Gen- 
eral Rosecrans, commanding the Army of the Cumberland, 
at Murfreesboro', Tennessee, by whom he was assigned to 
the command of Thomas' old division of the Fourteenth 
Army Corps. A month later. President Lincoln reappointed 
him a major-general of volunteers, and sent him back to 
St. Louis, to reheve Curtis, in command of the Department 



THE ARMY OF THE CENTRE. I73 

of Missouri. In May, 1863, he assumed command, and realiz- 
ing tlie paramount importance of the operations before Yicks- 
burg, suspended all active operations in his own department 
and lent himself heartily to a co-operation with the plans ol 
General Grant, then merely the commander of an adjacent de- 
partment, by furnishing him with Major-General F. J. Her- 
ron's fine division of the Army of the Frontier, and all other 
troops not necessarily required for a strictly defensive attitude 
in Missouri. After the capture of Yicksburg, Schofield was 
re-enforced by General Grant with Steele's division, lately of 
Sherman's corps. Sending a division of cavalry under Briga- 
dier-General J. W. Davidson to join Steele at Helena, he 
ordered the latter forthwith to move on Little Rock, the key 
to the mihtary possession of the line of the Ai"kansas Eiver 
and the control of the State, while he sent another column 
from Kansas, under Brigadier-General Blunt, to occupy Fort 
Smith and open communication with Little Eock. Both 
movements having proved successful, Missouri being thus 
secured from the ravages of a border war, and his army 
holding securely the line of the Arkansas, while menacing 
offensively the forces of the enemy between tliat river and the 
Eed, General Schofield was engaged in concerting with Major- 
General Banks, commanding the Gulf department, the details 
of a joint occupation of Shreveport and the Une of the Eed 
Eiver, when, in January, 1864, the President appointed Major- 
General Eosecrans to reheve him fi-om command. There 
were then three principal pohtical parties in Missouri, which, 
under different names or various pretences, had existed ever 
since the outbreak of the war. The entire control of affairs 
in Missouri necessarily rested with the military commander of 
the department. As it was impossible to please all parties, 
so, in looking only upon his duty and his orders from a stand- 
point different from that of either, he generally ended by 
pleasing none. Fremont, Hunter, and Curtis had been suc- 
cessively reUeved from command ; Schofield himself had been 
degraded for a time ; and now he was again to give way to the 
demands of the dissatisfied poHticians. Perceiving at last 



174 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

that the hostUitj of these gentlemen was indeed directed 
against liimself, and not against his subordinates, President 
Lincoln, although he indorsed and supported Schofield's entire 
poKcj and acts, yielded to the demands of the politicians for 
the purpose of demonstrating their motives, and gave them a 
new commander of their own choice. In a few weeks, the 
howls against Rosecrans were as loud as those previously 
raised against any of his predecessors. At the request of 
General Grant, Schofield was now assigned to the command 
of the Army of the Ohio, which he assumed on the 9th of 
February. 

George H. Thomas, born in Southampton County, Vir- 
ginia, on the 31st of July, 1816, of wealthy and respectable 
parents, entered West Point in June, 1836, and graduated 
twelfth in a class of forty-five members ; on the first of 
July, 1840, was appointed a second-heutenant in the Third 
Eegiment of Artillery, attained by regular promotions the 
grades of first-Heutenant, on the 17th of May, 1843, captain 
in the month of December, 1853, and on the 12th of May, 1855, 
was selected as major of the newly raised Second Eegiment of 
Cavalry, On the 25th of AprU, 1861, by regular promotion, 
consequent upon the resignation of the disloyal officers, he be- 
came Heutenant-colonel and on the 5th of May colonel of 
the same regiment, then and since kno-^ni as the Fifth Cavalry. 
During this time, he served eighteen months in Florida, was 
bre vetted first-lieutenant, on the 6th of November, 1841, for 
gallantry in the war against the Seminoles ; served some time 
with his company at New Orleans Barracks, Fort Moultrie, in 
Charleston Harbor, and Fort McHenry, near Baltimore ; in 
July, 1845, was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, to report to 
General Taylor; took part in the defence of Fort Brown 
against a short siege by the Mexicans, and in the battle of Be- 
saca de la Palma ; was brevetted captain for gallant conduct 
at the battle of Monterey, September 23, 1846 ; commanded 
Company E, Third Artillery, during the foUowing winter ; was 
brevetted major for highly distinguished service with his bat- 
tery in the decisive action at Buena Vista ; recrossed the Eio 



THE AEMY OF THE CENTRE. 175 

Grande at the conclusion of the war and was placed in charge 
of the commissary depot at Brazos Santiago ; served in Flor- 
ida, in command of Company B, of his regiment, in 1849 and 
1850 ; served at Fort Independence, Boston Harbor, during 
the first three months of 1851 ; was stationed at West Point 
as instructor of artillery and cavahy from that time until the 
spring of 1854, when he was ordered to Cahfornia with a bat- 
tahon of his regiment and stationed at Fort Yuma, until July, 
1853 ; served with the Second Cavalry, into which he had now 
been promoted, until early in 1856, when it went to Texas, 
where he commanded it for three years ; and in April, 1861, was 
ordered to Carhsle Barracks, Pennsylvania, to remount his 
regiment, which had been betrayed and robbed of its outfit 
and equipment by Twiggs, in his infamous surrender of 
the entire department under his command, after he had 
received orders relieving him, and with indecent haste to 
anticipate the hourly expected arrival of his successor. In 
May, 1861, Colonel Thomas took command of a brigade in 
the Department of Pennsylvania, under Major-General Patter- 
son, afterwards the Department of the Shenandoah, under 
Major-General Banks, and continued to hold that position 
until the end of August. On the 17th of August he was ap- 
pointed a brigadier-general of volunteers, and shortly after- 
wards ordered to Kentucky to report to Brigadier-General 
Anderson, who gave him the command of Camp Dick Eobin- 
son with about six thousand new troops. On the 26th of 
October, a brigade sent out by him under Brigadier-General 
Schoepf defeated the enemy under ZoUicoffer, in the battle of 
Wildcat. On the 18th of January, after a march of nineteen 
days, over nearly impassable roads, with part of the first 
division of the Ai-my of the Ohio, to which General Buell as- 
signed him, he met the fierce attack of Zolhcoffer, near Mill 
Spring, Kentucky, repulsed it, attacked in his turn, broke the 
enemy and pursued the disordered remnants to the Cumberland 
River, which they crossed during the night, abandoning all 
their artillery and baggage. In March, Thomas with his divi- 
sion, now forming the reserve of Buell's army, occupied Nash- 



176 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

ville, and in April joined the rest of tliat armj after tlie battle 
of SMoli, and moved with it and Grant's army on Corinth. 
On the 25th of April, 1862, he was promoted to be a major- 
general of volunteers, and on the 1st of May his own division 
was transferred to the Army of the Tennessee, and he was as- 
signed by General Halleck to command the five divisions, in- 
cluding Sherman's, constituting the right wing of the forces 
before Corinth. After the evacuation of that place by Beau- 
regard, Thomas returned to the Army of the Ohio and was 
placed on duty as second in command of that army, during 
Bragg's invasion and the remarkable series of movements by 
which Buell manoeuvred it out of Tennessee, through Ken- 
tucky, and back to Louisville. On the 1st of October he was 
assigned to the command of the right wing of that army, and 
in that capacity took part in BueU's nominal pursuit of Bragg. 
On the 5th of November, 1862, he was assigned by General 
Rosecrans, who had just relieved BueU, to the command of a 
corps comprising his own thii'd division, now under Rousseau, 
and Negley's di\ision. At Stone River, on the 31st of Decem- 
ber, 1863, when Bragg impetuously hurled his entire army 
against Rosecrans' right and routed it, Thomas, with Rous- 
seau's division unbroken, stood firm, held his ground, and 
aided in the selection of the new line, whose strength enabled 
Rosecrans to turn back the enemy's second attack on the fol- 
lowing day. On the 20th of September, 1863, at the battle of 
Chickamauga, when McCook and Crittenden on either flank 
jdelded to the fury of the enemy's assault, and streamed back 
in such utter rout to Chattanooga that even Rosecrans gave 
up the day as lost, and hastened thither in person to prepare a 
new hne of defence, Thomas with his corps, somewhat later 
augmented by Granger's division, stood hke a lion at bay, 
and resting his flanks upon the sides of the mountain gap, 
resisted and severely punished every attempt of Bragg, either 
to force his position in fi-ont or to turn his flanks. Falling 
back in the night three miles to a better position, he again 
formed hne of battle and waited all the day of the 21st 
for Bragg's expected attack, which never came. Having 



THE AKMY OF THE CENTRE. 177 

alone saved the Army of the Cumberland from destruc- 
tion, Thomas was very justly selected as the successor of 
General Rosecrans, when on the 19th of October it was 
determined to reheve the latter. On the 27th of the same 
month he was made a brigadier-general in the regular army. 
Faithful over all things and free from aU petty desires, 
when Sherman, his junior in years, in experience, in commis- 
sion, and at no remote period his subordinate, was ele- 
vated to the command of the Mihtary Division of the Missis- 
sippi, Thomas yielded a ready acquiescence in the selection, 
and a thorough, efficient, and essential co-operation in all the 
plans of his new superior. It is characteristic of Thomas, 
that in the twenty-five years that have elapsed since his 
graduation he has had but two short leaves of absence, one in 

1848, and one in 1860, and has never been on favored duty of 
any kind. In his most marked traits, Thomas is the antithesis 
of Sherman, his habitual repose of mind and temper being, 
perhaps, only less strongly marked than Sherman's electric 
restlessness. 

James Birdseye McPherson was born in Sandusky County, 
Ohio, on the 14th of November, 1828, entered the Military 
Academy towards the close of his twenty-first year, in June, 

1849, graduated at the head of the same class with Schofield, 
and on the 1st of July, 1853, was appointed a brevet second- 
lieutenant, and assigned to the corps of engineers. By regu- 
lar promotion, he attained the grades of second-lieutenant, on 
the 1st of December, 1854, first-heutenant, December 13, 1858, 
and captain, August 6, 1861. Uj)on the expiration of his 
graduating furlough, he was stationed at West Point as as- 
sistant instructor of practical engineering, and remained there 
until September, 1854, when he was detailed as assistant 
engineer of the harbor defences of New York. From January 
to July, 1857, he was in charge of the construction of Fort 
Delaware, in the Delaware Eiver. In December, 1857, he 
took charge of the erection of the fortifications on Alcatraa 
Island, in the Bay of San Francisco, California. In August, 
1861, he was detailed to superintend the construction of the 

13 



178 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

fortifications of Boston Harbor. On the 12tli of November, 
of the same year, Captain McPherson was, at the request of 
Major-General Halleck, appointed an additional aid-de-camp, 
with the rank of Heutenant-colonel, and, on reporting to him 
at St. Louis, was assigned to engineer duty on liis staff. 
Lieutenant-Colonel McPherson served as chief engineer on 
General Grant's staff, at Forts Henry and Donelson, and at 
Shiloh, and was bre vetted major in the regular army for the 
two former and lieutenant-colonel for the latter. On the 1st 
of May he was promoted to be additional aid-de-camp, with 
the rank of colonel, and served on General HaUeck's staff as 
chief engineer of the army before Corinth. He was soon 
afterwards promoted to be brigadier-general of volunteers, 
from May 15th, 1862. After serving under Grant as gen- 
eral superintendent of the mihtary railways in the Depart- 
ment of the Tennessee and upon the staff of that general in the 
battle of luka, he saw his first service in command of troops 
early in October, when, with a di\dsion, he fought his way 
through the rebel General Price's lines, then investing Corinth, 
marched in to the rehef of the garrison, and the next day 
joined in the attack and pursuit of the enemy. Li recognition 
of his continued meritorious services, he was, upon General 
Grant's request, promoted to be a major-general of volun- 
teers on the 8th of October, 1862. Li December, 1862, 
he was assigned to the command of the Seventeenth Army 
Corps. He was appointed a brigadier-general in the regu- 
lar army, to date from the capture of Vicksburg. His 
share in the campaign which resulted in the conquest of 
the Mississippi River, in the battles of Port Gibson, Ray- 
mond, Jackson, and Champion's HiU, and in the siege of 
Vicksburg, we have ah-eady noticed, as well as his subsequent 
assignment to the command of the district of Vicksburg, and 
the control of operations on that part of the river, and his 
part in Sherman's Meridian raid. He was tall in person, being 
over six feet in height, well proportioned and erect ; easy and 
agreeable in his manners ; frank in conversation ; accessible to 
all ; gallant and dashing in action ; regardless of danger ; 



THE ARMY OF THE CENTRE. 179 

strictly honorable in all his dealings with men and with the 
Government. 

Schofield, young but matured, well poised, thoroughly scien- 
tific by education, thorouglily practical by contact with men, 
habituated to command ; McPherson, in the full flower of his 
life, bold and enthusiastic, just emerging from a complete 
mastery of the science of defensive war into the wider field of 
the offensive, trained to command under the eye, and by the 
example of Grant and Sherman ; Thomas, the ripe growth of 
years and experience, of balanced and crystallized mind, 
strong and patient, steadfast and prudent, a true soldier, no 
genius, but a master of his profession, exhaustive in prepara- 
tion, dehberate in action, ponderous and irresistible in execu- 
tion : such were the men upon whom, under the leadership of 
Sherman, the destiny of the campaign was to rest. 

On the 25th of March, Sherman set out to inspect his com- 
mand, and prepare it for action. He visited Athens, Decatur, 
Huntsville, and Larkin's Ferry, Alabama; and Chattanooga, 
Loudon, and Knoxville, Tennessee. Meeting General McPher- 
son at Huntsville, General Thomas at Chattanooga, and General 
Schofield at Knoxville, he arranged with them in general terms 
the lines of communication to be guarded, and the strength 
of the columns and garrisons, and fixed the first of May as the 
date when every thing throughout the entire command was to 
be ready for a general movement. Leaving the department 
commanders to complete the details of organization and pre- 
paration, Sherman returned to his headquarters at Nashville, 
to look after the vital question of suppHes. Two parallel 
lines of railway from the Tennessee Eiver on the east, and a 
third line from the Ohio at Louisville, bring suppHes to Nash- 
ville. Thence by the Nashville and Decatur Kailroad they 
are carried south to Decatur, and by the Nashville and Chat- 
tanooga Eaikoad southeast to Chattanooga, passing through 
Huntsville, Stevenson, and Bridgeport. The Memphis and 
Charleston Kaih-oad forms the base of a triangle, one hundi-ed 
and twenty-one miles from Decatur to Chattanooga; from 
near Decatui' to Bridgeport it hes north of the Tennessee. 



180 SHERMAN AND HIS CAIVIPAIGNS 

Thus in case of accident or destruction to either of the dii-ect 
lines, there was generally communication by the circuitous 
route, and during the season of navigation the Tennessee 
Eiver added a third. The railways were in fine condition, in 
spite of the repeated injuries inflicted upon them by the 
enemy's cavalry in their frequent raids, but the people in East 
Tennessee were so impoverished that the Union commanders 
had hitherto felt obUged to issue rations to them from the 
mihtary stores. Sherman at once found that the army and 
the people could not both be fed by the railways. The army 
must be supplied, must remain, and must move forward ; the 
people could bring supphes by private means or could mi- 
grate to other parts of the country. Sherman's first duty was 
the success of his army. He accordingly issued orders stop- 
ping the issue of stores to the citizens, and made strenuous ex- 
ertions to increase the carrying capacity of the railways. " At 
first," he says, in his official report of the campaign, " my orders 
operated very hardly, but the proHfic soil soon afforded early 
vegetables, and ox-wagons hauled meat and bread fi'om Ken- 
tucky, so that no actual suffering resulted, and I trust that 
those who clamored at the cruelty and hardships of the day 
have already seen in the result a perfect justification of my 
course." By the 1st of May the storehouses at Chattanooga 
contained provisions for thirty days, the ammunition-trains 
were fully suppHed, the re-enhsted veterans had come forward, 
and aU was ready. 

On the 10th of April, Sherman received his final instruc- 
tions from the lieutenant-general. From them he learned 
that Grant would march with the Army of the Potomac from 
Culpepper on the 5th of May, against Lee. Sherman was to 
move against Johnston at the same time, with Atlanta as his 
immediate objective. He immediately replied, giving the 
details of his plans, and concluding : 

" Should Johnston fall behind Chattahoochee, I would feign 
to the right but pass to the left, and act on Atlanta or its 
eastern communications, according to developed facts. This 
is about as far ahead as I feel disposed to look ; but I would 



THE ARMY OF THE CENTRE. 181 

ever bear in mind that Johnston is at all times to be kept so 
busy that he cannot in any event send any part of his com- 
mand against you or Banks. If Banks can at the same time 
carry Mobile and open up the Alabama River, he will in a 
measure solve a most difficult part of my problem — p-ovisions. 
But in that I must venture. Georgia has a milHon of inhab- 
itants. If they can Hve, we should not starve. If the enemy 
interrupt my communications, I will be absolved from aU 
obhgations to subsist on my own resources, but feel perfectly 
justified in taking whatever and wherever I can find. I will 
inspire my command, if successful, with my feelings, and that 
beef and salt are all that are absolutely necessary to life ; and 
parched corn fed General Jackson's army once, on that very 
ground." 

On the 27th of April, Sherman issued orders to all the troops 
that were to form part of the moving columns to concentrate 
towards Chattanooga, and on the 28th removed his headquar- 
ters thither. 

On the morning of the 6th of May the Ai-my of the Tennes- 
see was near Gordon's Mill, on the Chickamauga Creek, the 
Army of the Cumberland at and near Ringgold on the rail- 
way, and the Army of the Ohio near Red Clay on the Geor- 
gia Hue, directly north of Dalton. It had been Sherman's 
desu'e and intention to move with one hundred thousand men 
and two hundred and fifty guns ; fifty thousand men in the 
Army of the Cumberland, thirty-five thousand in that of the 
Tennessee, and fifteen thousand in that of the Ohio. His 
actual force was ninety-eight thousand seven hundred and 
ninety-seven men, and two hundred and fifty-four guns, dis- 
tributed as follows : — 

Army of the Cumberland. — Infantry, 54,568 ; artillery, 2,377 ; 
cavahy, 3,828 : total, 60,773 ; guns, 130. 

Army of the Tennessee. — Infantry, 22,437 ; artillery, 1,404 ; 
cavahy, 624 : total, 24,465 ; guns, 96. 

Army of the Ohio. — Infantry, 11,183 ; artillery, 679 ; cavalry, 
1,697 : total, 13,559 ; guns, 28. 

A. J. Smith's and Mower's divisions, which were to have 



182 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

joined the Army of Tennessee early in April, were still de- 
tained on tlie Mississippi, in consequence of tlie unexpected 
length and disastrous end of the Eed Eiver expedition. 

The Confederate army under Johnston, now numbering, 
according to his official report, forty thousand nine hundred 
infantry, in the three corps of Hardee, Hood, and Polk, and 
four thousand cavalry, under Wheeler, was grouped around 
Dalton, on the line of th-e Chattanooga and Atlanta Railway, 
Johnston's plan was to take the initiative, with his own force 
increased from other sources as largely as practicable ; but 
while Mr. Davis and General Bragg, then stationed in Eich- 
mond, as general-in-chief of the Confederate armies, were 
engaged in discussing details, and objecting to General John- 
ston's suggestions, Sherman advanced. 



BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS. 183 



CHAPTER XV. 

BEYOND THE MOUNTAmS. 

The two hostile armies were separated by an inaccessible 
spur of the Alleghanies, called Rocky Face Ridge, cloven by 
Buzzard's Roost Gap, through which run the railway and 
Mill Creek. This narrow pass was strongly fortified, was 
flooded by the waters of the creek, artificially raised by means 
of a dam, and was swept by strong batteries on the projecting 
spurs and on a ridge at the southern extremity. To assault 
the enemy in this almost unapproachable position, formed no 
part of Sherman's plan. He decided to turn the enemy's left. 
McPherson was ordered to move rapidly by Ship's Gap, Yil- 
lanow, and Snake's Creek Gap, on the railway at Resaca, 
eighteen miles below Dalton, or a point nearer than that 
place, make a bold attack, and after breaking the railway 
well, to retire to a strong defensive position near Snake Creek 
Gap, ready to fall on the enemy's flank when he retreated, 
as it was thought he would do. 

On the 7th of May, with shght opposition, Thomas occu- 
pied Tunnel Hill, directly in front of Buzzard's Roost Gap. 
On the 9th, Schofield moved down close to Dalton, fi'om 
his camps at Red Clay, and Thomas renewed his demon- 
stration against Buzzard's Roost and Rocky Face Ridge 
with such vigor, that Newton's division of Howard's fourth 
corps carried the ridge, but turning south, found the crest too 
narrow and too well protected by rock epaulements to enable 
it to reach the gorge. Geary's division of Hooker's twentieth 
corps, made a bold push for the summit, but the narrow road 
was strongly held by the enemy, and could not be carried. 



134 SHERaiAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Meanwhile McPherson had reached Snake Creek Gap on 
the 8th, completely surprising a brigade of Confederate cav- 
alry which was coming to watch and hold it. The next day 
he approached within a mile of Kesaca, but finding that place 
very strongly fortified, and no road leading across to it, with- 
out exposing his left fiank to an attack from the north, he 
retired to Snake Creek Gap and there took up a strong posi- 
tion. 

Leaving Howard's Fourth Corps and a small force of cavalry, 
to occupy the enemy's attention in front, on the 10th, Sherman 
ordered General Thomas to send Hooker's twentieth corps 
over to McPherson, and to follow with Palmer's fourteenth 
corps, and Schofield was dii"ected to march by the same route. 
On the 12th, the whole army, except Howard's corps, moved 
through Snake's Creek Gap on Eesaca ; — McPherson, in ad- 
vance, by the dii-ect road, preceded by Kilpatrick's division of 
cavaky ; Thomas to the left, and Schofield to the right. 

General KUpatrick, with his division, led, and drove Wheel- 
er's division of the enemy's cavahy from a cross-road to within 
two miles of Resaca, but received a wound which disabled 
him, and gave the command of his brigade to Colonel Murray, 
who„ according to his orders, wheeled out of the road, lea\dng 
General McPherson to pass. General McPherson struck the 
enemy's infantry pickets near Resaca, and drove them within 
their fortified lines, and occupied a ridge of bald hills, his 
right on the Oostanaula, about two mUes below the railway 
bridge, and his left abreast the town. General Thomas came 
up on his left, facing Camp Creek. General Schofield broke 
his way through the dense forest to General Thomas' left. 
Johnston had left Dalton on the night of the 12th and morn- 
ing of the 13th, and General Howard entered it and pressed 
his rear. Rocky Face Mountain and the southern extremity 
of Snake Creek Gap had effectually concealed the flank 
movement of the Union army, and nothing saved Johnston's 
army at Resaca but the impracticable nature of the country, 
which made the passage of troops across the valley almost 
impossible. This enabled him to reach Resaca from Dal- 



Pi^parod LvBrvt. Brig (ipii^ O. M Pot^. 

JuTUfroii'ri for 'S/t^rni/tn euid His Cfiiufxuiftiti . 




BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS. 185 

ton along tlie comparatively good roads constructed before- 
hand, by Ills own foresight. On the 14th of May, the whole 
rebel army was met in a strong position beliind Camp 
Creek, occupying the forts at Resaca, the right on some 
high hills to the north of the town. Sherman at once ordered 
a pontoon bridge to be laid across the Oostanaula at Lay's 
Ferry, in the direction of Callioun ; Sweeney's division of the 
Sixteenth Corjjs, to cross and threaten Calhoun, and Garrard's 
cavalry division to move from its position at Yillanow towards 
Rome, cross the Oostanaula, and break the railway below 
Calhoun and above Kingston, if possible, while the main army 
pressed against Eesaca at all points. General McPherson got 
across Camp Creek near its mouth, and made a lodgment 
close up to the enemy's works, driving Polk's corps fi-om the 
hills that commanded the railroad and trestle bridges ; and 
General Thomas pressing close along Camp Creek Valley, 
threw Hooker's corps across the head of the creek to the main 
Dalton road, and down it close to Resaca. 

General Schofield came up on his left, and a heavy 
battle ensued during the afternoon and evening of the 15tli, 
during which General Hooker drove the enemy fi'om several 
strong hills, capturing a four-gun battery and many prisoners. 
Tiiat night Johnston escaped, retreating south across the 
Oostanaula, and the next morning Sherman entered the town 
in time to save the road bridge, but not the railway bridge, 
which had been burned. 

The whole army started in pursuit. General Thomas directly 
on the heels of Hardee, who was bringing up the Confederate 
rear, General McPherson by Lay's Ferry, and General Scho- 
field by blind roads to the left. Li Eesaca another four-gun 
battery and a considerable quantity of stores were found. 

During the 16th the whole of Sherman's army crossed the 
Oostanaula, and on the 17th moved south by as many different 
roads as practicable. General Thomas had sent Jefferson 
C. Davis' division along the west bank of the Oostanaula, to 
Rome. Near Adairsville, the rear of the rebel army was again 
encountered, and about sunset of that day General Newton's 



186 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

division, in the advance, liad a sliarp encounter with his rear 
guard, but the next morning he was gone, and the Union troops 
pushed on through Kingston, to a point four miles beyond, 
where they found the enemy again formed on ground comj)ar- 
atively open, and well adapted for a gTeat battle. General 
Schofield approached Cassville from the north, to which point 
General Thomas had also directed General Hooker's corps, 
and General McPherson's army had been drawn from Wood- 
land to Kingston in. order to be in close support. On the 19th 
the enemy was in force about Cassville, strongly intrenched, 
but as our troops converged on him again he retreated, in the 
night-time, across the Etowah River, burning the road and 
railway bridges near CartersvOle, but leaving us in possession 
of the valuable country about the Etowah Biver. 

That morning Johnston had ordered Polk's and Hood's 
corps to advance and attack the Foui-teenth Corps, General 
Palmer's, which had followed them from Adairsville, but 
Hood, who led the advance, being deceived by a report that 
the union troops had turned his right, delayed until the op- 
portunity was lost. On the night of the 19th, the Confed- 
erate army held a commanding situation on a ridge before 
Cassville, but acting upon the earnest representations of Lieu- 
tenant-Generals Polk and Hardee, that their positions were 
untenable, Johnston crossed the Etowah on the following 
morning. 

Holding General Thomas's army about Cassville, General 
McPherson's about Kingston, and General Schofield at Cass- 
ville's depot, and towards the Etowah bridge, Sherman gave 
his army a few days' rest, and time to bring forward supphes 
for the next stage of the campaign. In the mean time General 
Jefferson C. Davis, with his division of the Fourteenth Corps, 
had got possession of Rome, with its forts, eight or ten guns 
of heavy cahbre, and its valuable mills and foundries. Two 
good bridges were also secured across the Etowah Pdver near 
Kingston. Satisjfied that the enemy would hold him in check 
at the Allatoona Pass, Sherman resolved, without even at- 
tempting it in fi'ont, to turn it by a circuit to the right, and 



BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS. 187 

having loaded the wagons with forage and subsistence for 
twenty days' absence from the railway, left a garrison at Eome 
and Kingston, on the 23d put the army in motion for Dallas. 

General McPherson crossed the Etowah at the mouth of 
Conasene Creek, near Kingston, and moved for his position to 
the south of Dallas by way of Van Wert. Davis' division 
of the Fourteenth Corps moved directly from Eome for Dallas 
by Wan Wert. General Thomas took the road by Euharlee 
and Burnt Hickory, while General Schofield moved by other 
roads more to the east, aiming to come up on Thomas' left. 
The head of Thomas' column skii-mished with the enemy's 
cavalry, under Jackson, about Burnt Hickory, and captured a 
courier with a letter of General Johnston, showing that he had 
detected the move, and was preparing to take a stand near 
Dallas. The country was very rugged, mountainous, and 
densely wooded, with few and obscure roads. 

On the 25th May, General Thomas was moving from Burnt 
Hickory for Dallas, his trooj)S on three roads. Hooker's corps 
having the advance. When he approached the Pumpkin Yine 
Creek, on the main Dallas road, he found Jackson's division 
of the enemy's cavalry at the bridge to his left. Eapidly 
pushing across the creek, he saved the bridge, though on 
fire, and following eastward about two miles, encountered 
and drove the infantry some distance, until he met Hood's 
corps in line of battle, and his leading division. General 
Geary's, had a severe encounter. Williams' and Ward's (late 
Butterfield's) divisions of Hooker's corps, were on other roads, 
and it was nearly four o'clock p. m. before General Hooker 
got his whole corps well in hand, when he deployed, and, 
by Sherman's order, made a bold push to secure j^ossession 
of New Hope Church, where three roads fi'om Ack worth. Ma- 
rietta, and Dallas meet. Here a hard battle with Stuart's 
division of Hood's corps was fought, lasting two hours, but 
the enemy being covered by hastily constructed earthworks, 
and a stormy dark night having set in. General Hooker was 
unable to drive him from these roads. The next morning 
General McPherson was moved up to Dallas, General Thomas 



188 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

deployed against New Hope Church, and General Schofield 
directed towards the left, so as to strike and turn the enemy's 
right. General Garrard's cavalry operated with General Mc- 
Pherson, and General Stoneman's with General Schofield. 
General McCook looked to the rear. Owing to the difficult 
nature of the ground and dense forests, it took several days 
to deploy close to the enemy, when Sherman resolved gradu- 
ally to work towards our left, and as soon as all things should 
be ready to push for the railway east of Allatoona. In making 
the development before the enemy about New Hope, many 
severe encounters occurred between parts of the army. On 
the 28th, General McPherson was on the point of closing 
to his left on General Thomas, in fi-ont of New Hope Church, 
to enable the rest of the army to extend still more to the left, 
and to envelop the enemy's right, when suddenly the enemy 
made a bold and daring assault on him at Dallas. Fortu- 
nately our men had erected good breastworks, and gave the 
enemy a terrible and bloody repulse. After a few days' delay, 
for effect, Sherman renewed his orders to General McPherson, 
to move to the left about five miles, and occupy General 
Thomas' position in front of New Hope Church, and directed 
Generals Thomas and Schofield to move a corresponding dis- 
tance to their left. This was effected without resistance on 
the 1st of June, and by pushing the left well around, all the 
roads leading back to Allatoona and Ackworth were occupied, 
after which Sherman sent General Stoneman's cavalry rapidly 
into Allatoona, at the east end of the Pass, and General' Gar- 
rard's cavalry around by the rear to the west end of the Pass. 
This was accompHshed, Allatoona Pass was turned, and Sher- 
man's real object gained. 

Ordering the railway bridge across the Etowah to be at 
once rebuilt, Sherman continued working by the left, and by 
the 4th of June had resolved to leave Johnston in his in- 
trenched position at New Hope Church, and move to the rail- 
way about Ackworth, when the latter abandoned his intrench- 
ments, and fell back to Lost Mountain. The Union army 
then moved to Ackworth and reached the railway on the 6th. 



BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS. 189 

On the 7tli the Confederate right was extended beyond the 
railway, and across the Ackworth and Marietta road. On ex- 
amining the AHatoona Pass, Sherman found it admirably 
adapted for use as a secondary base, and gave the necessary 
orders for its defence and garrison. As soon as the railway 
bridge was finished across the Etowah, stores came forward to 
camp by rail. At Ackworth, General Blair came up on the 8th 
of Jiine with two divisions of the Seventeenth Corps, that had 
been on furlough, and one brigade of cavalry, Colonel Long's, 
of General Garrard's division, which had been awaiting horses 
at Columbia. This accession of force nearly compensated for 
the losses in battle, and the detachments left at Resaca, Rome, 
Kingston, and AHatoona. 



190 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 

On tlie 9th of June, his communication in the rear being 
secure and supplies ample, Sherman moved forward to Big 
Shanty. 

Kenesaw Mountain lay before him, with a high range of 
hills, covered with chestnut-trees, trending off to the north- 
east, terminating in another peak, called Brushy Mountain. 
To the right was a smaller hill, called Pine Mountain, and 
beyond it, in the distance. Lost Mountain. All these, though 
links in a continuous chain, present a sharp, conical appear- 
ance, prominent in the vast landscape that presents itseH from 
an}^ of the hills that abound in that region. Pine Mountain 
forms the apex, and Kenesaw and Lost Mountains the base 
of a triangle, perfectly covering the town of Marietta and the 
railAvay, back to the Chattahoochee. On each of these peaks 
the enemy had his signal-stations. Hardee's corps held the 
left of the enemy's line, resting on Lost Mountain, Polk's the 
centre, and Hood's the right, across the Marietta and Ackworth 
road. The enemy's line was fully two miles long — more than 
he had force to hold. General McPherson was ordered to 
move towards Marietta, his right on the railroad ; General 
Thomas on Kenesaw and Pine Mountains, and General 
Schofield off towards Lost Mountain : General Garrard's cav- 
alry on the left, General Stoneman's on the right ; and General 
McCook looking to the rear and communications. The depot 
was at Big Shanty. 

By the 11th of June Sherman's lines were close up, and he 
made dispositions to break the enemy's line between Kenesaw 



ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 191 

and Pine Mountains. General Hooker was on its right and 
front, General Howard on its left and front, and General 
Palmer between it and the railroad. During a sharp can- 
nonading from General Howard's right and General Hooker's 
left, Lieutenant-General Polk, of the Confederate army, was 
killed on the 14th, and Major-General Lovell succeeded to the 
command of his corps. On the morning of the 15th Pine 
Mountain was found abandoned by the enemy. Generals 
Thomas and Schofield advanced, and found him again strongly 
intrenched along the line of rugged hills connecting Kenesaw 
and Lost Mountains. At the same time General McPherson 
advanced his line,, gaining substantial advantage on the left. 
Pushing the operations on the centre as vigorously as the 
nature of the ground would permit, Sherman had again or- 
dered an assault on the centre, when, on the 17tli, the enemy 
abandoned Lost Mountain, and the long line of breastworks 
connecting it with Kenesaw. Our troops continued to press 
at all points, skirmishing in dense forests of timber, and across 
most difficult ravines, until, on the 19tli, they found him again 
strongly posted and intrenched, his right wing, composed of 
Hood's corps, thrown back to cover Marietta, resting on the 
Marietta and Canton road; the centre on Kenesaw Mountain, 
held by Loring's corps ; and the left, Hardee's corps, across 
the Lost Mountain and Marietta road, behind Nose's Creek, 
and covering the railroad back to the Chattahoochee. 

From Kenesaw the enemy could look down upon the Union 
camps, and observe every movement, and his batteries thun- 
dered away, but did little harm, on account of the extreme 
height, the shot and shell passing harmlessly over the heads of 
the men. During the operations about Kenesaw the rain fell 
almost continuously for three weeks, rendering the narrow 
wooded roads mere mud guUeys, so that a general movement 
would have been impossible ; but the men daily worked closer 
to their intrenched foe, and kept up an incessant picket firing 
to annoy him. 

General McPherson w^as watching the enemy on Kene- 
saw and working his left forward ; General Thomas swing- 



192 SHERMAI^ AND HIS CAIVIPAIGNS. 

ing, as it were, on a gi-and left wheel, his left on Kene- 
saw connecting with General McPherson ; and General Scho- 
field all the time working to the south and east, along the old 
Sandtown road. On the 21st, Hood's corps was moved to the 
left of the Confederate hnes, and his former position on the 
right filled by Wheeler's cavalry. On the 22d, General 
Hooker had advanced his line, with General Schofield on his 
right, when Hindman's and Stevenson's divisions of Hood's 
corps suddenly saUied forth, attacked Williams' division of 
Hooker's corps and a brigade of Hascall's division of General 
Schofield's army, and drove in their skirmish lines, but on reach- 
ing the line of battle received a terrible repulse and fell back, 
leaving dead, wounded, and many prisoners in our hands. 
Upon studying the ground, Sherman now considered that he 
had no alternative but to assault the enemy's hnes or turn his 
position. Either course had its difficulties and dangers ; and 
he perceived that the enemy, as well as his own officers, had 
settled down into a conviction that he would not assault forti- 
fied hnes. All expected him to " outflank." An army, to be 
efficient, must not settle down to one single mode of offence, but 
must be prepared to execute any plan which promises success. 
Desu'ing, therefore, for the moral effect, to make a successful 
assault against the enemy behind breastworks, Sherman re- 
solved to attempt it on the left centre ; reflecting that if he 
could thrust a strong head of column through at that point, 
by pushing it boldly and raj)idly two and a half miles, it 
would reach the railway below Marietta, cut off the enemy's 
right and centre from its hne of retreat, and then, by turning 
on either fragment, that fraction could be overwhelmed and 
destroyed. On the 21tli of June, he ordered that an assault 
should be made at two points south of Kenesaw on the 27th, 
one near Little Kenesaw by McPherson, and the other about 
a mile further south by Thomas. On the 27th of June, the 
two assaults were made exactly at the time and in the man- 
ner prescribed in Sherman's orders, and both failed, costing 
us many valuable Uves, among them those of Generals Harker 
and McCook — Colonel Rice, and others badly wounded ; our 



ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 193 

aggregate loss being nearly three thousand, while we inflicted 
comparatively httle loss to the enemy, behind his well-formed 
breastworks. The losses in Hardee's and Loring's corps, by 
which the brunt of the assault was sustained, are reported by 
General Johnston at about five hundred and forty. In his 
official report, Sherman says : " Failure as it was, and for 
which I assume the entire responsibility, I yet claim it pro- 
duced good fruits, as it demonstrated to General Johnston 
that I would assault, and that boldly ; and we also gained and 
held ground so close to the enemy's parapets that he could 
not show a head above them." 

On the 1st of July, Sherman ordered General McPherson to 
be relieved by General Garrard's cavalry in front of Kenesaw, 
and rapidly to throw his whole army by the right to threaten 
Nickajack Creek and Turner's Ferry across the Chattahoochee ; 
and he also pushed Stoneman's cavah-y to the river below 
Turner's. General McPherson commenced his movement on 
the night of July 2d, and, at the same moment, Johnston, finding 
his left turned, and in danger of being cut off from Atlanta, 
abandoned his strong position at Kenesaw Mountain, and fell 
back to Smyrna Church, five miles from Marietta. The next 
morning General Thomas' whole Hne was moved forward to 
the railway, and turned south in pursuit towards the Chatta- 
hoochee. General Logan's corps, of General McPherson's 
army, was ordered back into Marietta by the main road, and 
General McPherson and General Schofield were instructed to 
cross Nickajack and attack the enemy in flank and rear, and, 
if possible, to catch him in the confusion of crossing the 
Chattahoochee ; but Johnston had covered his movement too 
well, by a strong fete-de-pont at the Chattahoochee and an ad- 
vanced intrenched line across the road at Smyrna Church, to 
admit of this. 

Leaving a garrison in Marietta, and ordering General Logan 
to join his own army near the mouth of Nickajack, Sherman 
overtook General Thomas at Sm}T:na. On the 4th of July, 
Thomas pushed a strong skirmish line down the main road, 
capturing the entire line of the enemy's pits, and made strong 

13 



194 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

demonstrations along Nickajack Creek and about Turner's 
Ferry. This had the desired effect, and during the night 
Johnston fell back to the Chattahoochee, covering the cross- 
ings fi'om Turner's Ferry to the railway bridge, and sending 
"WTieeler's and Jackson's cavalry to the left bank to observe 
the river for twenty miles above and below. The next morn- 
ing, Sherman advanced to the Chattahoochee, General Thomas' 
left flank resting on it near Price's Ferry, General McPherson's 
right at the mouth of the Nickajack, and General Schofield in 
reserve. Heavy skirmishing along the whole front, during the 
5th, demonstrated the strength of the enemy's position, which 
could alone be turned by crossing the main Chattahoochee 
Eiver, a rapid and deep stream, only passable at that stage 
of water by means of bridges, except at one or two very 
difficult fords. 

Conceiving that this would be more easy of execution be- 
fore the enemy had made more thorough preparation or re- 
gained full confidence, Sherman ordered General Schofield to 
cross from his position on the Sandtown road to Smyrna 
camp gi'ound, and next to the Chattahoochee, near the mouth 
of Soap's Creek, and effect a lodgment on the east bank. 
This was most successfully and skilfully accomphshed on the 
7th of July, General Schofield capturing a gun, completely 
surprising the guard, laying a good pontoon bridge and a 
trestle bridge, and effecting a strong lodgment on high and 
commanding ground, with good roads leading to the east. At 
the same time, General Garrard, with his cavalry division, 
moved rapidly on Roswell, and destroyed the cloth factoides 
which had supphed the rebel armies. General Garrard was 
then ordered to socui-e the shallow ford at Eoswell, and hold 
it until he could be reheved by infantry ; and, as Sherman con- 
templated transferring the Army of the Tennessee from the 
extreme right to the left, he ordered General Thomas to send 
a division of his infantry that was nearest to Poswell to hold 
the ford until General McPherson could send a corps fi'om the 
neighborhood of Nickajack. General Newton's division was 
sent, and held the ford until the arrival of General Dodge's 




THE ATLANTA CAM PATGN 

i'lirinshed bv 

Hrevel Bi'ii> Geii. O. IVI. Poot^^ 

("hief Eiis^ieer 




ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 195 

corps, wliich was soon followed bj the remainder of General 
McPherson's army. General Howard had also built a bridge 
at Powers' Ferry, two miles below General Schofield, and had 
crossed over and taken position on his right. Thus, during the 
9th, we had secured three good and safe points of passage over 
the Chattahoochee above the enemy, with good roads leading 
to Atlanta. Learning these facts, Johnston crossed the river on 
the night of the 9th, and burned the bridges in his rear ; and 
thus, on the morning of the 10th, Sherman's army held undis- 
puted possession of the right bank of the Chattahoochee ; one 
of the chief objects of his campaign was gained ; and Atlanta 
lay before him, only eight miles distant. It was too impor- 
tant a place in the hands of an enemy to be left undisturbed 
with its magazines, stores, arsenals, workshops, foundries, and 
converging railways. But the men had worked hard and 
needed rest. 

In anticipation of this contingency, Sherman had collected 
a well-appointed force of cavaby, about two thousand strong, 
at Decatur, Alabama, with orders, on receiving notice by 
telegraph, to push rapidly south, cross the Coosa at the 
raih'oad bridge or the Ten Islands, and thence by the most 
dii-ect route to Opelika, for the purpose of breaking up the only 
finished railway connecting the channels of trade and travel 
between Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, running from 
Montgomery to Oj)ehka, and thereby to cut off Johnston's 
army fi'om an important source of supply and re-enforcement. 
Major-General LoveU H. Eousseau, commanding the district 
of Tennessee, had asked and received permission to command 
the expedition. As soon as Johnston was well across the 
Chattahoochee, and Sherman had begun to manceu^Te on At- 
lanta, the requisite notice was given. General Eousseau started 
punctually on the 10th of July, fulfilled his orders and instruc- 
tions to the very letter, passed through TaUadega, reached the 
railway on the 16th, about twenty-five miles west of Opelika, 
and effectually broke it up to that place, as well as three miles 
of the branch towards Columbus, and two miles towards 
West Point. He then turned north, and, on the 22d, joined 



196 SHtRMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Sherman at Marietta, haYing sustained a loss of about tliirty 
men. 

The interval to the 16th of July, was employed in collecting 
stores at Allatoona, Marietta, and Viuing's Station, strengthen- 
ing the railway guards and garrisons, and in improving the 
pier bridges and roads leading across the river. Generals 
Stoneman's and McCook's cavalry had scouted well down 
the river to draw attention in that direction, and all things 
being ready for a general advance, on the 17th, Sherman 
ordered it to commence. General Thomas was to cross at 
Powers' and Price's ferry bridges, and march by Buckhead ; 
Schofield, who, as has been seen, was abeady across at 
the mouth of Soap's Creek, to march by Cross Keys ; and 
General McPherson to direct his course from Eoswell di- 
rectly against the Augusta road at some point east of Deca- 
tur, near Stone Mountain, General Garrard's cavalry acted 
with General McPherson, and Generals Stoueman and Mc- 
Cook watched the river and roads below the railway. On the 
17th the whole army advanced fi'om their camps, and formed 
a general line along the old Peach-tree road. 

The same day, Jefferson Davis relieved General Johnston 
from the command of the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, 
and designated Lieutenant-General J. B. Hood as his succes- 
sor. The telegram from General Samuel Cooper, adjutant- 
general of the Confederate army, communicating this order 
assigned as a reason for it that Johnston had failed to arrest 
the advance of the Union army to the vicinity of Atlanta, and 
expressed no confidence that he could defeat it. From the 
moment that stiffly bending to the pressure of pubhc opinion, 
unmistakably uttered through the lips of the rebel Congress, 
Jefferson Davis had, against his will, restored General John- 
ston to command in the west, that wrong-headed man, ever 
warped by his private griefs to the injury of his own cause, 
had sullenly refi'ained from giving to his subordinate any as- 
sistance whatever, had spent the time for action in ca-vdlling at 
details, had withheld the troops needed to render either offence 
or defence successful, and had left Johnston in enthe igno- 



ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 197 

ranee as to the approval or condemnation of liis plans until 
their consummation afforded the hungrily watched chance for 
his disgrace. With an army less than half the size of Sher- 
man's, a victory by Johnston on the banks of the Tennessee, 
by no means probable would even if possible, have proved in- 
decisive ; while defeat, vvhich he ought to have regarded as 
certain, would have been his utter destruction. Falling back 
successively to the strong mountain positions at Eesaca, Alla- 
toona, Ackworth, and Kenesaw, and in turn interposing be- 
tween himself and the Union army three large rivers, the 
Oostanaula, Etowah, and Chattahoochee, Johnston had forced 
Sherman to consume seventy-two days in passing over the 
hundred miles that measured the distance between Kinggold 
and Atlanta, and there, behind secure fortifications, with an 
army larger than at the start, was preparing to attack the 
Union army, largely reduced by losses, by detachments, and 
by expiration of enlistmeiits, in a position south of all the 
barriers it had passed, where a defeat would be so far decisive 
for Sherman as to cost him all the fruits already gained and 
months of delay, but indecisive for the Confederates, who could 
retire behind their works, too strong for assault and too exten- 
sive for investment. At this crisis of the campaign, Johnston, 
prudent, wary, and exhaustive in his plans, brave and skilful 
in their execution, was displaced by a successor, brave indeed 
but also rash, capable of fighting, but incompetent to direct. 
The Confederate tactics changed at once and the battle which 
Johnston, at the very moment he was reheved, was about to 
dehver upon the decisive pomt with thorough preparation was 
dehvered by Hood, upon the first point that presented itself, 
with rash impetuosity. 

The Confederate army, numbering forty-one thousand infan- 
try and artillery and ten thousand cavalry, was now strongly 
posted, about four miles in fi'ont of Atlanta, on the hills 
which form the south bank of the broad channel known as 
Peach-tree Creek, holding the Hne of that stream and the 
Chattahoochee for some distance below the mouth of the 
creek. 



198 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

On tlie IStli, contmuing on a general right wheel, General 
McPlierson readied the Augusta railway, at a point seven 
miles east of Decatur, and with General Garrard's cavalry and 
General Morgan L. Smith's division of the Fifteenth Corps, 
broke up a section of about four miles. General Schofield 
reached the town of Decatur the same day. 

On the 19th, General McPherson turned along the railway 
into Decatur. General Schofield followed a road towards At- 
lanta, leading by Colonel Howard's house and the distillery, 
and General Thomas crossed Peach-tree Creek in force by nu- 
merous bridges in the face of the enemy's intrenched lines. All 
found the enemy in more or less force and skirmished heavily. 

On the 20th, all the armies had closed in, converging towards 
Atlanta, but as a gap existed between Generals Schofield 
and Thomas, two divisions of General Howard's corps of 
General Thomas' army were moved to the left to connect with 
General Schofield, leaving Newton's division of the same corps 
on the Buckhead road. During the afternoon of the 20tli, 
about 4 p. M., the enemy sallied from his works in force, and 
fell in line of battle against Sherman's right centre, composed 
of Newton's division of Howard's corps, on the main Buck- 
head road, of Hooker's corps, next towards the south, and 
Johnson's division of Palmer's corps. The blow was sudden 
and somewhat unexpected, but General Newton had hastily 
covered his front by a Hne of rail-piles, which enabled him to 
meet and repulse the attack on him. General Hooker's corps, 
although uncovered, and compelled to fight on comparatively 
open ground, after a very severe battle, drove the enemy back 
to his iutrenchments. The action in front of Johnston's divi- 
sion was comparatively light, as the position was well intrench- 
ed. Sherman's entire loss was about fifteen hundred killed, 
wounded, and missing, — chiefly in Hooker's corps, by reason of 
its exposed condition. 

On the morning of the 22d, to his surprise, Sherman discov- 
ered that the Confederate army had, during the succeeding 
night, abandoned the line of Peach-tree Creek, where he 
should have interposed an obstinate resistance, and fallen back 



ACROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. I99 

to a strong line of redoubts, forming the immediate defences 
of Atlanta, and covering all the approaches to that town. 
These works had been long since prepared, and the enemy 
was now engaged in connecting the redoubts with curtains 
strengthened by rifle-trenches, abattis, and chevanx-de-frise. 
The whole of Sherman's army crossed Peach-tree Creek and 
closed in upon Atlanta, — McPherson on the left, Schofield nest, 
and Thomas on the right. 

General McPherson, who had advanced from Decatur, con- 
tinued to follow substantially the Augusta railway, with the 
Fifteenth Corps, General Logan, and Seventeenth, General 
Blair, on its left, and the Sixteenth, General Dodge, on its 
right ; but as the general advance of all the armies contracted 
the circle, the Sixteenth Corps was thrown out of line by the 
Fifteenth connecting on the right with General Schofield near 
the Howard House. General McPherson, the night before, 
had gained a high hill to the south and east of the railway, 
where the Seventeenth Corps had, after a severe fight, driven 
the enemy, and it gave him a most commanding position 
within view of the very heart of the city. He had thrown out 
working parties to it, and was making preparations to occupy 
it in strength with batteries. The Sixteenth Corps, General 
Dodge, was ordered from right to left to occupy this position 
and make it a strong general left flank. General Dodge was 
movhig by a diagonal path or wagon-track leading from the 
Decatur road in the direction of General Blair's left flank. 

About noon Hood attacked boldly. At the first indications 
of a movement, on his flank, General McPherson parted fi'om 
General Sherman, with whom he was engaged in discussing the 
state of affairs and the plans for the future, and with his staff 
rode off to direct matters on the field. In a few moments, the 
sounds of musketry to McPherson's left and rear, growing in 
volume and presently accompanied by artillery, indicated to 
Sherman Hood's purpose of throwing a superior force against 
liis left, while his front would be checked by the fortifications 
of Atlanta ; and orders were accordingly at once dispatched 
to the centre and right to press forward and give full employ- 



200 SHERM.^N AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

ment to all tlie enemy in liis lines, and for General Schofield 
to hold as large a force in reserve as possible, awaiting devel- 
opments. About haK-past twelve o'clock, Lieutenant-Colonel 
William T. Clark, assistant-adjutant-general, rode up and 
communicated to General Sherman the appalling intelhgence 
that General McPherson was either dead or a prisoner, that 
he had ridden to General Dodge's column, which was then 
moving as heretofore described, and had sent off nearly all his 
staff and orderhes on various errands, and himself had passed 
into a narrow path or road that led to the left and rear of 
General Giles A. Smith's division, which was General Blair's 
extreme left ; that a few minutes after he had entered the 
woods a sharp volley was heard in that direction, and his horse 
had come out riderless and wounded in two places. There 
was no time to yield to the grief caused by this terrible calam- 
ity. Not an mstant was to be lost. Slierman instantly dis- 
patched a staff-officer to General Logan to tell him what had 
happened and that he must assume command of the Army of 
the Tennessee, and hold stubbornly the ground already chosen, 
more especially the hill gained by General Leggett the night 
before. 

Ah-eady the whole line was engaged in battle. Hardee's 
corps had sallied from Atlanta, and, by a wide circuit to the 
east, had struck General Blair's left flank, enveloped it, and 
had swung round to the right until it struck General Dodge in 
motion. General Blair's line was substantially along the aban- 
doned hne of rebel trench, but it was fashioned to fight out- 
wards. A space of wooded ground of near haK a mile inter- 
vened between the head of General Dodge's column and 
General Blair's Hne, through which the enemy had poured. 
The last order known to have been given by General McPher- 
son was to hurry Colonel Wangelin's brigade of the Fifteenth 
Corps across from the railway to occupy this gap. Oppor- 
tunely, it came on the double-quick and checked the enemy. 
While Hardee assailed our left flank, Lieutenant-General A. 
P. Stewart, who had been placed in command of Polk's corps, 



At ROSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 201 

on tlie 7th, was iiiteuded to move directly out from his main 
works and fall upon McPherson in fi'ont, but fortunately both 
attacks were not made simultaneously. The enemy swept 
across the hill which our men were fortifying, captured the 
pioneer company, its tools, and almost the entire working 
party, and bore down on our left until he encountered General 
Giles A. Smith's division of the Seventeenth Corps, who being 
somewhat in air, was forced to figiit first from one side of the 
old rifle parapet and then fi'om the other, gradually withdraw- 
ing, regiment by regiment, so as to form a flank to General 
Leggett's division, which held the important position on the 
apes of the hill. General Dodge received and held in check 
the attack of Hardee's corps, and punished him severely, cap- 
turing many prisoners. General Giles A. Smith had gradually 
given up the extremity of his line, and formed a new one, con- 
nected on the right with General Leggett, and the left refused, 
facing southeast. On this ground and in this order the men 
fought well and desperately for nearly four hours, checking and 
repulsmg all the enemy's attacks. The execution on the ene- 
my's ranks at the angle was terrible, and great credit is as- 
cribed by Sherman to Generals Leggett and Giles A. Smith 
and their men for their hard and stubborn fighting. The 
enemy made no further progress on that flank, and by four 
p. M. had almost given up the attempt. In the mean time, 
Garrard's cavahy division having been sent off to Covington, 
Wheeler, with his Confederate cavahy, had reached Decatur 
and attempted to capture the wagon trains, but Colonel 
Sprague covered them with great skill and success, sending 
them to the rear of Generals Schofield and Thomas, and not 
drawing back from Decatur till every wagon was safe except 
three, which were abandoned by the teamsters. On our ex- 
treme left the enemy had taken Murray's regular battery of 
six guns, with its horses, as it was moving along unsupported 
and unapprehensive of danger in a narrow wooded road in 
the ungTiarded space between the head of General Dodge's 
column and the fine of battle on the ridge above, but most of 



202 SHERMAN AND HIS CAJ^IPAIGNS. 

the men escaped to the bushes, Hardee also captured two 
other guns on the extreme left flank, that were left on the 
ground as General Giles A. Smith drew off his men. About 
four p. M. there was a lull, during which the enemy advanced 
on the railway and the main Decatur road, and suddenly 
assailed a regiment which, with a section of guns, had been 
thrown forward as a picket, moved rapidly forward, and broke 
through our lines at that point. The force on this part of the 
line had been materially weakened by the withdrawal of Colonel 
Martin's brigade, sent by General Logan's orders to the extreme 
left, and Lightburn's brigade fell back in some disorder about 
four hundred yards, to a position held by it the night before, 
leaving the enemy for a time in possession of two batteries, 
including a valuable 20-pounder Parrott battery of four guns, 
and separating the two divisions of the Fifteenth Corps, 
which were on the right and left of the railway. Being in per- 
son close by the spot, and appreciating the vast importance 
of the connection at that point, Sherman ordered several bat- 
teries of Schofield's army to be moved to a position command- 
ing the interval by a left-flank fire, and ordered an incessant 
fire of shells on the enemy within sight, and in the woods 
beyond to prevent his re-enforcing. Orders were also sent to 
General Logan to cause the Fifteenth Corps to regain its lost 
ground at any cost, and to General Woods, supported by 
General Schofield, to use his division and sweep the parapet 
down from where he held it until he saved the batteries and 
recovered the lost ground. With soldierly instinct, Logan had 
anticipated these orders, and was abeady in motion. The 
whole was executed in superb style, our men and the enemy 
at times fighting across the narrow parapet ; but at last the 
enemy gave way, and the Fifteenth Corps regained its position 
and all the guns except the two advanced ones, which were 
out of view, and had been removed by the enemy within his 
main work. With this terminated the battle of the 22d, 
which cost us 3,722 officers and men in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners. 



ACEOSS THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. 203 

But among the dead was one whose loss no numbers can 
fitly represent. The accomplished, the brave, the noble Mc- 
Pherson had fallen ! 

The Army of the Tennessee had lost its commander, every 
man in its ranks a friend^ America a great soldier, and 
humanity a bright ornament. 



204 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ATLANTA WON. 

On the 23d, General Garrard, with his division of cavaby, 
returned from the expedition sent to Covington to break np 
the Augusta railway, and reported that, with tlie loss of only 
two men, he had succeeded in accomphshing that object, in 
such a manner as to render the road useless to the enemy 
during the pending operations, lia^dng effectually destroyed 
the large bridges across the Ulcofauhachee and Yellow rivers, 
which are branches of the Ocmulgee. 

The Macon railway, running at first almost due south, was 
now the only hue by which the Confederate army in Atlanta 
could receive the supjDhes requisite to maintain the defence of 
the place. The problem before Sherman was to reach that 
road. Schofield and Thomas had closed well up, holding the 
enemy behind his inner intrenchments, and Logan, with the 
Army of the Tennessee temporarily under his command, was 
ordered to prepare to vacate the position on the left of the 
line and move by the right to the opposite flank, below Proc- 
tor's Creek, while General Schofield should extend up to and 
cover the Augusta road. General Rousseau, who had arrived 
from his expedition to Opelika, bringing aboiit two thousand 
good cavalry, of course fatigued with its long and rapid march, 
was ordered to reheve General Stoneman in the duty of guard- 
ing the river near Sandtown, below the mouth of Utoy Creek. 
Stoneman was then transferred to the extreme left of the fine, 
and placed in command of his own division and Garrard's, 
numbering in all about five thousand efiective troopers. The 
new cavahy brought by General Rousseau, and which was 







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ATLANTA WON. 205 

commanded by Colonel Harrison, of the Eiglitli Indiana 
Cavalry, was added to tlie command of Brigadier-General 
Edward M. McCook, making witli it a division of about four 
feliousand. 

The plan now was that while the Army of the Tennessee 
should move by the right on East Point to seize the Macon 
railway, Stoneman and McCook, with their well-appointed 
columns, were to march in concert, the former by the left 
around Atlanta to McDonough, and the latter by the right on 
Fayetteville, and, on the night of July 28th, to meet on the 
Macon railway, near Lovejoy's, and destroy the road m the 
most effectual manner. At the moment almost of starting, 
General Stoneman addressed a note to General Sherman, 
asking permission, after fulfilling his orders and breaking the 
railway, to proceed with his command proper to Macon and 
Andersonville, and release our prisoners of war confined at those 
points, thirty thousand in number, suffering the extremities of 
starvation, and rotting by hundreds from the loathsome dis- 
eases that follow in its train. " There was something captiva- 
ting in the idea," says Sherman, and deeming the execution 
within the bounds of probable success, he consented that after 
the defeat of Wheeler's cavahy and breaking the road. Gen- 
eral Stoneman might make the attempt with his cavalry 
proper, sending that of General Garrard back to the army. 
Both cavalry expeditions started at the time appointed. 

General McCook, in the execution of his part of the move- 
ment, went down the west bank of the Chattahoochee to near 
Rivertown, where he laid a pontoon bridge with which he was 
provided, crossed his command, and moved rapidly on Pal- 
metto station, on the West Point railway, where he tore up a 
section of track, leaving a regiment to create a diversion to- 
wards Campbelltown, which was successfully accomphshed. 
McCook then rapidly moved to Fayetteville, where he found 
a large number of wagons belonging to the rebel army in 
Atlanta, killed eight hundred mules, and captured two hundred 
and fifty prisoners.- He then pushed for the Macon railway, 
reached it at Lovejoy's station at the time appointed, burned 



206 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

the depot, tore up a section of tlie road, and continued to worlc 
until forced to leave off to defend himself against an accumula- 
ting force of tlie enemy. He could hear nothing of General 
Stoneman, and, finding his progress east too strongly opposed, 
moved south and west, and reached Newman on the West 
Point road, where he encountered an infantry force coming 
from Mississippi to Atlanta, and which had been stopped by 
the break he had made at Palmetto. This force, with the 
pursuing cavalry, hemmed him in and forced him to fight. 
He was compelled to drop his prisoners and captures and cut 
his way out, losing some five hundred ofiicers and men ; among 
them Colonel Harrison, Eighth Indiana Cavalry, a valuable 
officer, who was taken prisoner while fighting his men as 
skirmishers on foot. McCook succeeded, however, in cutting 
his way out, reached the Chattahoochee, crossed the river, and 
got to Marietta without further loss. 

Shermr<,n says in his official report : — 

" General McCook is entitled to much credit for thus saving 
his command, which was endangered by the failure of General 
Stoneman to reach Lovejoy's. But on the whole, the cavalry 
raid is not deemed a success, for the real purj)ose was to 
break the enemy's communications, which, though done, was 
on so limited a scale that I knew the damage would soon be 
repaired." 

Pursuant to the general plan, the Army of the Tennessee 
drew out of its lines on the left, near the Decatur road, during 
the night of July 26th, and on the 27tli moved behind the rest 
of the army to Proctor's Creek, the extreme right beyond it, to 
prolong the line due south, facing east. On the same day, by 
appointment of the President, Major-General Oliver O. 
Howard assumed command of the Army of the Tennessee, 
relieving General Logan, who had exercised the command 
with great ability since the death of McPherson on the 22d, 
and who now returned to the immediate charge of his own 
Fifteenth Corps. Dodge got into line on the evening of the 
27th, and Blair came into position on the right early on the 
morning of the 28th, his right reaching an old meeting-house, 



ATLANTA WON. 207 

called Ezra Chnrcli, on the Bell's Ferry road. Here Logan's 
fifteenth corps joined on and formed the extreme right flank 
of the army before Atlanta, along a wooded and commanding 
ridge. About ten a. m., all the army was in position, and 
the men were busy in throwing up their accustomed piles of 
rails and logs, which, after awhile, assumed the form of a para- 
pet. In order to be prepared to defeat the enemy if he should 
repeat his game of the 22d, Sherman had, the night before, 
ordered Jefferson 0, Davis' division, of Palmer's fourteenth 
corps, which, by the movement of the Army of the Tennessee, 
had been left in reserve, to move down to Turner's Ferry, and 
thence towards White Hall or East Point, aiming to reach the 
flank of Howard's new hne. The object of this movement was 
that in case of an attack this di\dsion might in turn catch the 
attacking force in flank or rear at an unexpected moment. 
Brigadier-General Morgan, who commanded the division dur- 
ing the temporary illness of General Davis, marched early for 
Turner's Ferry, but many of the roads laid down on the maps 
did not exist at all ; and from this cause, and the intricate 
nature of the wooded ground, great delay was experienced. 
About noon, Hardee and Lee sallied forth from Atlanta by the 
Bell's Ferry road, and formed their masses in the open fields 
behind a swell of ground, and after some heavy artillery firing, 
advanced in parallel hues against the Fifteenth Corps, expect- 
ing to catch it in air. The advance was magnificent ; but Sher- 
man had prepared for this very contingency ; our troops were 
expecting this attack, and met it with a galling and coolly de- 
livered fii"e of musketry that swept the ranks of the enemy and 
drove him back in confusion. But they were raUied again and 
again, as often as six times at some points, and a few of the 
rebel ofiicers and men reached our lines of rail piles only to 
be hauled over as prisoners. About four P. m., the enemy 
disappeared, leaving his dead and woiinded in our hands. 
General Logan on this occasion was again conspicuous, his 
corps being chiefly engaged. Our entire loss was less than 
six hundred. Had Davis' division not been delayed by causes 
beyond control, what was simply a complete repulse of the 



208 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

enemy would have been a disastrous rout. Instructed by tlie 
terrible lessons of the 22d and 28th of July, Hood abandoned 
his rash offensive and assumed a strict defensive attitude, 
merely meeting Sherman's successive extensions of his right 
flank by continuing his own line of works to the south. 

Finding that the right flank of the Army of the Tennessee 
did not reach to East Point, Sherman was forced to trans- 
fer Schofield to that flank also, and afterwards Palmer's 
fourteenth corps of Thomas' army. Schofield moved from 
the left on the 1st of August, and Palmer's corps follow^ed at 
once, taking a Hne below Utoy Creek, which Schofield pro- 
longed to a point near East Point. 

About the 1st of August, General Hooker, deeming himself 
aggrieved by the promotion of General Howard, who had 
served under him in the Army of the Potomac and had but 
recently come to the West as his subordinate, to the command 
of the Army of the Tennessee, was, at his own request, relieved 
from command of the Twentieth Corps and ordered to report 
to the adjutant-general at Washington. Major-General Henry 
W. Slocum, then at Vicksburg, was sent for to assume the 
command, which, until his arrival, devolved upon Brigadier- 
General A. S. Williams. Brigadier-General Jefferson C. Davis 
was promoted to the command of the Fourteenth Corps, in 
heu of General Palmer, relieved at his own request ; and 
Major-General D. S. Stanley succeeded to the command of 
the Fourth Corps, vacated by General Howard. 

From the 2d to the 5th, Sherman continued to extend to the 
right, demonstrating strongly on the left and along the whole 
line. Reilley's brigade of Cox's division of Schofield's army, on 
the 5th, tried to break through the enemy's line about a mile 
below Utoy Creek, but failed to carry the position, losing about 
four hundred men, who were caught by the entanglements and 
abattis ; but the next day this position was turned by General 
HascaU, and General Schofield advanced his whole hne close 
up to and facing the enemy below Utoy Creek. Still he did 
not gain the desired foothold on either the West Point or 
Macon railway. The enemy's line at that time was nearly 





^/^^^ 



^^0^^ 7^^t^ ^^^^^ 



C.B.lJadiaxdsoiL.Piililislier . 



ATLANTA WON 209 

fitteen miles in length, extending from near Decatur to below 
East Point. He was enabled to hold this long and attenuated 
front hj the use of a large force of State mihtia, and his posi- 
tion was so masked by the shape of the ground that it was 
impossible for the Union commanders to discover the weak 
parts. 

To reach the Macon road, Sherman now saw he would have 
to move the whole army ; but, before beginning, he ordered 
down from Chattanooga some four-and-a-half-inch rifled guns, 
which arrived on the 10th, and were put to work night and 
day, and did execution on the city, causing frequent fires and 
creating confusion. 

On the 16th of August, Sherman issued orders prescribing 
the mode and manner of executing the grand movement by the 
right flank, to begin on the 18th. This movement contem- 
plated the withdrawal of the Twentieth Corps, General 
WiUiams, to the intrenched position at the Chattahoochee 
bridge, and the march of the main army to the West Point 
railway, near Fairburn, and thence to the Macon road, at or 
near Jonesboro', with wagons carrying provisions for fifteen 
days. About the time of the publication of these orders, 
Wheeler, -with his corps of ten thousand cavaby, was detached 
by General Hood to break up the Union communications. 
Passing round by the East and North, Wheeler made his 
appearance on the Chattanooga railway, near Adairsville, cap- 
tured nine hundred beef-cattle, and made a break in the road 
near Callioun. Hood could not have more distinctly evinced 
his want of mental perspective than by detaching so large a 
force on the eve of a battle momentarily to be expected. At 
the best, Wheeler could only annoy Sherman ; his absence 
might destroy Hood. Sherman was not slow to take advantage 
of a blunder so well-timed for his plans. Suspending the exe- 
cution of his orders for the time being, he directed General Kil- 
patrick to make up a well-aj^pointed force of about five thou- 
sand cavahy, to move from his camp about Sandtown during 
the night of the 18th to the West Point railway, and effectually 
break it near Fairburn ; then to j^roceed across to the Macon 

14 



210 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

railway, and thoroughly destroy it ; to avoid, as far as possible, 
the enemy's infantry, but to attack any cavalry he could find. 
Sherman expected that this cavalry expedition would save the 
necessity of moving the main army across, and that in case of 
success it would leave him in a better position to take full 
advantage of the result. 

Kilpatrick got off at the time appointed, broke the West 
Point road, and afterwards reached the Macon road at Jones- 
boro', where he whipped Koss' cavalry, and got possession of 
the railway, which he held for five hours, damaging it con- 
siderably ; but a brigade of the enemy's infantry, which had 
been dispatched below Jonesboro' in cars, was run back and 
disembarked, and, with Jackson's rebel cavalry, made it im- 
possible for him to continue his work. He drew off to the 
east, made a circuit, and struck the railway about Love- 
joy's Station, but was again threatened by the enemy, who 
moved on shorter fines ; when he charged through their cavalry, 
taking many prisoners, of whom he brought in seventy, and 
captured a four-gun battery, of which he brought in one gun 
and destroyed the others. Keturnmg by a circuit north and 
east, Kilpatrick reached Decatur on the 22d. He estimated 
the damage done to the railway as sufiicient to interrupt its 
use for ten days ; but, upon learning all the details of the ex- 
pedition, Sherman became satisfied that it had not accom- 
pHshed the chief object in view, and accordingly at once 
renewed his original orders for the movement of the whole 
army. 

This involved the necessity of raising the siege of Atlanta, 
taking the field with the main force, and using it against 
the communications of Atlanta, instead of against its in- 
trenchments. The army commanders were immediately noti- 
fied to send their surplus wagons, encumbrances, and sick 
back to the intrenched position at the bridge over the Chat- 
tahoochee, and that the movement would begin during the 
night of the 25th. Accordingly, all things being ready, the 
Fourth Corps, General Stanley, drew out of its fines on the 
extreme left, and marched to a position below Proctor's 



ATLANTA WON. 211 

Creek^ while the Twentieth Corps, General Williams, moved 
back to the river. Both movements were effected without loss. 
On the night of the 26th the Army of the Tennessee broke 
camp, and moved rapidly by a circuit towards Sandtown and 
across Camp Creek, a small stream about a mile below Proc- 
tor's Creek ; the Army of the Cumberland moved below Utoy 
Creek, while the Army of the Ohio remained in position to mask 
the movement, which was attended with the loss of but a single 
man in the Army of the Tennessee, wounded by a shell. On 
the 27th, the Army of the Tennessee moved to the West Point 
railway, above Fairburn ; the Army of the Cumberland to Eed 
Oak, and the Army of the Ohio closed in near Diggs' and 
Mims'. The three columns were thus massed on the line of 
the West Point railway from Diggs', two miles below East 
Point, to within an equal distance of Fairburn. The 28th was 
consumed in destroying the road. For twelve and a liaK miles 
the ties were burned, and the iron rails heated and twisted 
with the utmost ingenuity of old hands at the work. Several 
cuts were filled up with the trunks' of trees, logs, rock, and 
earth, intermingled with loaded shells, prepared as torpedoes, 
to explode in case of an attempt to clear them out. Having 
personally inspected this work, and being satisfied with its 
execution, Sherman ordered the whole army to face eastward 
and move the next day by several roads ; General Howard, on 
the right, towards Jonesboro', General Thomas in the centre 
to Couch's, on the Decatur and Fayetteville road, and General 
Schofield on the left, by Morrow's Mills. The railway from 
Atlanta to Macon follows substantially the ridge which divides 
the waters of the Flint and Ocmulgee Eivers, and fi-om East 
Point to Jonesboro' makes a wide bend to the east. The 
position now selected by Sherman, parallel to the railway, 
facing eastwardly, was therefore a very important one, and he 
was anxious to seize it as a necessary preliminary to his 
ulterior movements. 

The several columns moved punctually on the morning of 
the 29th. General Thomas, who encountered httle opposition 
or difficulty, save what resulted from the narrow roads, reached 



212 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

his position at Coucli's early in the afternoon. General Sclio- 
fielcl, being closer to the enemy, who still clung to East Point, 
moved cautiously on a small circle around that point, and 
came into position towards Eough and Eeady ; and General 
Howard, having the outen circle, and consequently a greater 
distance to move, encountered cavalry, which he drove rapidly 
to the crossing of Shoal Creek. Here a short delay occurred, 
and some cannonading and skirmishing, but Howard soon 
drove the enemy, passed the Renfrew House, on the Decatur 
road, which was the point indicated for him in the orders 
of the day, and wisely pushed his march towards Jonesboro', 
saved the bridge across Flint Kiver, and halted only when 
the darkness compelled him, within half a mile of Jonesboro'. 
Here he rested for the night, and on the next morning, find- 
ing himself in the presence of a heavy force of the enemy, he 
deployed the Fifteenth Corps, and disposed the Sixteenth and 
Seventeenth on its left and right flanks. The men covered 
tlieu' front with the usual parapet, and vvere soon prej^ared to 
act offensively or defensively as the case called for. 

As soon as Sherman, who made his headquarters with 
Thomas at Couch's, learned that General Howard had passed 
Eenfi-ew's, he du-ected General Thomas to send to that place 
a division of General Jefferson C. Davis' fourteenth corps, 
to move General Stanley's fourth coi'j^s, in connection with 
General Schofield, towards Eough and Eeady, and then to 
send forward due east a strong detachment of General Davis' 
corps to feel for the railway. General Schofield was also 
ordered to move boldlj' forward and strike the railroad near 
Eough and Eeady. These movements were progressing during 
the 31st, when Stephen D. Lee's and Hardee's corps of the 
enemy came out of the works at Jonesboro', and attacked 
General Howard in the position just described. After a con- 
test of over two hours, the attack was repulsed, with great loss 
to the enemy, who withdrew, leaving his dead and many 
wounded on the ground. 

In the mean while, Sherman was aiming to get his left and 
centre between Stewart's corps remaining in Atlanta and the 



ATLANTA WON. 213 

corps of Hardee and Lee engaged in Howard's front. Gen- 
eral Schofield had reached the railway, a mile below Rough 
and Ready, and was working up the road, breaking it as he 
went ; General Stanley, of General Thomas' army, had also 
struck the road below General Schofield, and was destroying 
it, working south ; and Baird's division of Davis' corps had 
struck it still lower down, within four miles of Jonesboro'. 

The Confederate forces being thus divided, orders were at 
once given for all the army to turn on the fi'action at Jones- 
boro ; General Howard to keep the enemy busy, while General 
Thomas should move down from the north, with General 
Schofield on his left. The troops were also ordered as they 
moved down to continue the thorough destruction of the rail- 
way, as it was impossible to say how soon our hold of it might 
be relinquished, fi'om the necessity of giving attention in other 
quarters. General Garrard's cavalry was directed to watch 
the roads to the north, and General Kilpatrick was sent 
south, to the west bank of the FHnt, with instructions to 
attack or threaten the railway below Jonesboro'. On the 1st 
of September Davis' corps, having a shorter distance to travel, 
was deployed, facing south, his right in connection with 
General Howard, and his left on the railway ; while General 
Stanley and General Schofield were coming down the Rough- 
and-Ready road, and along the railway, breaking it as they 
came. When General Davis joined to General Howard, Blair's 
corps, on General Howard's left, was thrown in reserve, and 
was immediately sent well to the right below Jonesboro', to act 
on that flank in conjunction with General Kilpatrick's. About 
5 P. M., General Davis assaulted the enemy's Hues across open 
fields, carrying them very handsomely, and taking as prisoners 
the greater part of Gowan's brigade, including its com- 
mander, with two four-gun batteries. Repeated orders were 
sent to Generals Stanley and Schofield to hasten their move- 
ments, but owing to the difficult nature of the country and the 
absence of roads, they did not get well into position for attack 
before night rendered further operations impossible. About 
2 o'clock that night, the sounds of heavy explosions were heard 



214 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

in the direction of Atlanta, distant about twenty miles, with a 
succession of minor explosions, and what seemed like the 
rapid firing of cannon and musketry. These sounds con- 
tinued for about an hour, and again about 4 A. M. occurred 
another series of similar discharges, apparently nearer, which 
could be accounted for on no other hypothesis than of a 
night attack on Atlanta by General Slocum, or the blow- 
ing up of the enemy's magazines. At daybreak it was dis- 
covered that Hardee and Lee had abandoned their Hues at 
Jonesboro', and Sherman ordered a general pursuit south ; 
General Thomas following to the left of the railway. General 
Howard on its right, and General Schofield diverging two 
miles to the east. Near Lovejoy's Station the enemy was 
again overtaken in a strong intrenched position, with his 
flanks well protected, behind a branch of Walnut Creek to the 
right, and a confluent of the Fhnt River to his left. Pushing 
close up and reconnoitring the ground, Sherman found he 
had evidently halted to cover his communication with the 
McDonough and Fayetteville road, and presently rumors 
began to arrive, through prisoners captured, that Atlanta had 
been abandoned during the night of September 1st, that Hood 
had blown up his ammunition trains, which accounted for the 
unexplained sounds so plainly heard ; that Stewart's corps was 
then retreating towards McDonough, and that the militia had 
gone off towards Covington. It was then too late to interpose 
and prevent their escape, and Sherman being satisfied with 
the substantial success already gained, ordered the work of 
destroying the railway to cease, and the troops to be held in 
hand, ready for any movement that further information from 
Atlanta might warrant. 

On the same night, a courier arrived from General Slocum, 
reporting the fact that the enemy had evacuated Atlanta, 
blown up seven trains of cars, and retreated on the Mc- 
Donough road, and that he himseK with the Twentieth Corps 
had entered and taken possession on the morning of 2d of 
September. 

Atlanta being won, the object of the movement against 



ATLANTA WON. 215 

the railway being therefore akeadj concluded, and any pur- 
suit of the enemy with a view to his capture being futile in 
such a country, Sherman gave orders, on the 4th, for the army 
to move back slowly to Atlanta. On the 5th, the army 
marched to the vicinity of Jonesboro', five miles, where it re- 
mained a day. On the 7th, it moved to Eough and Ready, 
seven miles, and the next day to the camps selected. The 
Army of the Cumberland was then grouped round about At- 
lanta, the Army of the Tennessee about East Point, and the 
Army of the Ohio at Decatur, all in clean and healthy camps, 
at last enabled to enjoy a brief period of rest, so much needed 
for reorganization and recuperation. 

To return to the erratic movements of Wheeler, whom, in 
the presence of the campaigns of two large armies, we have 
almost forgotten. He succeeded in breaking the railway about 
Calhoun, made his appearance at Dalton, where Colonel Lei- 
bold held him in check until General Steedman arrived from 
Chattanooga and drove him off, then passed up into East 
Tennessee, and remained a short while at Athens ; but on the 
first show of pursuit he moved beyond the Little Tennessee, 
and crossing the Holston, near Strawberry Plains, reached 
the Chnch near Chnton, passed over towards Sequatchee 
and McMinnville, and thence to Murfreesboro', Lebanon, and 
Franklin. From Franklin he was pursued towards Florence, 
and out of Tennessee, by Generals Eousseau, Steedman, and 
Granger. He did great injury to many citizens, and destroyed 
the railway nearly as fast as the construction parties were 
able to repair it ; but, except by being absent from Hood's 
army at the critical moment, had no influence whatever upon 
the campaign. 

Thus ended, four months after its inception, one of the great- 
est campaigns of the war ; a campaign which doubly secured 
the possession of the mountain regions of the centre, and laid 
the Atlantic and Gulf slopes at the mercy of the Union com- 
mander. Divided in twain by the conquest of the Mississippi, 
the domain of the rebeUion was quartered by the capture of 
Atlanta. A vital spot had been reached; the gi-anary of 



216 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Georgia was lost ; and tliere was suddenly presented to the 
Confederate autliorities the alternative, to concentrate their 
two remaining armies or to perish. 

Two dangers had menaced the success of Sherman's cam- 
paign. The first was the question of supphes. This was in 
great part solved by the energetic and successful management 
of the superintendent of military railways, Colonel TV. 
W. Wright. "No matter when or where a break has been 
made," says Sherman, " the repair train seemed on the spot, 
and the damage was generally repaired before I knew of the 
break. Bridges have been built with surprising rapidity, and 
the locomotive whistle was heard in our advanced camps 
almost before the echoes of the skirmish fire had ceased. 
Some of these bridges, those of the Oostanaula, Etowah, and 
Chattahoochee, are fine, substantial structures, and were built 
in inconceivably short time, almost out of the materials im- 
provised on the spot." But the solution was mainly due to the 
forethought exercised by Sherman himself in successively 
estabhshing secondary depots, strongly garrisoned, as at Chat- 
tanooga, Eesaca, Kome, and Allatoona, and by great exer- 
tions accumulating at each stores sufficient to render the army 
independent of the rear during any temporary interruption 
of the communications. The second danger ever present con- 
sisted in the rapid diminution of the army, not only by the 
heavy casualties incidental to offensive warfare, but also by 
the expiration of the terms of service of a large number of the 
regiments. This was prevented from becoming fatal, by the 
bravery of the army in attacking ; by the skill of its com- 
mander, in turning obstacles too gi'eat to be surmounted by 
direct approach ; by the patriotism of the veterans, in re- 
enhsting ; by the noble exertions of the governors of the 
Western States, in encouraging and expediting re-enhstments, 
and pushing the veterans to the fi'ont ; and by the folly of 
Hood, in attacking the Union troops in strong positions, pro- 
tected by earthworks, instead of attempting to take them at a 
disadvantage, as in crossing Peach-tree Creek. On the 12th 
of August, President Lincoln conferred upon General Slier- 



ATLANTA WON. 217 

man a commission as major-general in the regular army, as a 
reward for his services in this campaign. 

Stoneman marched from Decatur on the day appointed, with 
the whole effective strength of his division, numbering about 
two thousand in all, organized in three brigades, commanded 
by Colonels Adams, Biddle, and Capron. The first brigade 
consisted of the First and Second regiments of Kentucky cav- 
ah-y ; the Second, of the Fifth and Sixth Indiana ; the third 
brigade, of the Fourteenth Illinois, Eighth Michigan, and a 
squadron of Ohio cavalry under Captain McLoughlin. 

Stoneman moved out along the line of the Georgia Central 
railway to Covington, and thence turned South and pushed by 
way of Monticello, Hillsboro', and Clinton, for Macon. A 
battalion of the Fourteenth lUinois cavalry of Capron's brigade 
succeeded in entering Gordon, destrojdng eleven locomotives 
and several trains of cars laden with munitions of war. The 
bridge over the Oconee was also destroyed by General Stone- 
man's orders, by another detachment from his command. 

On arriving within fifteen miles of Macon on the evening 
of the 30th of July, General Stoneman ascertained from reli- 
able sources that, in anticipation of such an attempt, the 
probabihty of which had been freely discussed in the Northern 
newspapers, the Confederate authorities had taken the pre- 
caution to remove all the Union prisoners previously confined 
in the military prisons at Macon and MiUen, in the direction 
of Florence, South Carohna ; and that this movement had only 
been completed on the preceding day. The prime object of 
the expedition being thus, unfortunately, frustrated, Stoneman 
reluctantly determined to return to the main body. 'But in 
the mean while the enemy had concentrated in heavy force, 
and was now moving upon his Hne of retreat. 

On the morning of Sunday, the 31st of July, finding what 
seemed to be a heavy force of the enemy in his front, Stone- 
man deployed a strong line of skirmishers, which soon de- 
veloped the fact that, taking advantage of the unfavorable 
nature of the country for the operations of cavalry, Allen's 
brigade of Confederate infantry had passed around his flank 



218 SHERIVIAN AKD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and taken up a strong position directly across tlie line of liis 
homeward march, while Armstrong's brigade of the enemy's 
cavahy, in connection with Allen's infantry, was dangerously 
menacing his left iiank. With the Oconee in his rear and a 
formidable enemy in his front, Stoneman had evidently no re- 
source but to destroy that enemy or be himseK destroyed. 

Dismounting the troopers of one brigade, he caused them 
repeatedly to charge the enemy on foot, but they were as often 
repulsed with heavy loss. Eallying the broken columns by his 
personal exertions and with the assistance of the gallant Major 
Keogh and other officers of his staff, Stoneman placed himself 
at the head of his men, and again charged, but without more 
favorable result. At the critical moment, Armstrong's brigade 
assailed his left flank. The Union cavalry gave way before 
the combined opposition, and were with difficulty reformed. 
By this time the enemy had completely surrounded them. 

Perceiving this, and deeming all further resistance useless, 
Stoneman gave permission to such of Ids officers and men as 
wished to try the apparently desperate chance of cutting their 
way through the opposing lines, to make the attempt, and then, 
causing hostilities to cease on his part, sent in a flag of truce, 
and unconditionally surrendered the remainder of his force. 

Among those who cut their way through the enemy's hues, 
and thus escaj)ed and rejoined the main army, was the bulk of 
Colonel Adams' brigade and a number of Colonel Capron's men. 
The entire number captured was less than fifteen hundred. 

The failure to unite with McCook, which was the prime 
cause of this disaster, undoubtedly occurred in consequence 
of false, but apparently rehable, information concerning the 
roads and the crossings of the Ocmulgee Eiver, whereby Gen- 
eral Stoneman was led to beheve he could prolong his east- 
erly march to Covington without sacrificing the combination. 
Yet in all concerted operations, the co-operative movements 
are of the first importance ; all others, no matter how great 
their intrinsic value, must be deemed secondary. Great suc- 
cess alone can excuse, while not even success can justify, any 
departure from the primary features of the plan. 



TAKING BREATH. 219 



CHAPTER XVni. 

TAKING BREATH. 

Feom Lovejoy's Station, Hardee and Lee retreated tc 
the line of the West Point railway at Palmetto Station, 
twenty-five miles southwest from Atlanta, and situated at 
about the same distance from the Chattahoochee as that 
city is. Here Hood joined them with Stewart's corps, took 
up a position confronting Sherman, threw a pontoon bridge 
across the Chattahoochee, and sent a cavalry detachment be- 
yond the river, twenty-five miles westward to Carrollton, and 
another in a northerly dhection to Powder Springs, about ten 
miles south of Lost Mountain, and an equal distance west of 
the Chattanooga railway. He also occupied Jonesboro' in 
some force. Lieutenant-General Stephen D. Lee succeeded 
Hardee in the command of his corps, the latter officer being 
reheved by orders from Richmond, and sent to Charleston to 
replace Beauregard. Lieutenant-General B. F. Cheatham had 
command of Hood's old corps, and Lieutenant-General A. P. 
Stewart still retained his assignment to Polk's old corps. 
The cavahy was largely reinforced and united in one corps, 
under the command of Major-General James Wheeler. Gen- 
eral Beauregard was summoned from Charleston, and placed 
at the head of all the Confederate armies operating in the 
central region. 

During the month of September, Sherman's army remained 
grouped aboiit Atlanta. The terms of enlistment of many of 
his regiments had expired, a large number went home on fur- 
lough, and others, previously furloughed on condition of re- 
enhsting, returned to the field with theii- ranks swelled by 



220 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

additions of stragglers, convalescents, and recruits. Many 
changes were tlius rendered necessary in tlie composition of 
the different commands. The Army of the Tennessee was 
consohdated into two corps, the Fifteenth and Seventeenth, 
respectively commanded by Major-General P. J. Osterhaus 
and Brigadier-General Thomas E. G. Ransom ; the former 
comprismg the four divisions of Brigadier-Generals Charles 
R. Woods, William B. Hazen, John E. Smith, and John M. 
Corse ; the latter those of Major-General Joseph A. Mower, 
and Brigadier-Generals Miles D. Leggett and Giles A. Smith, 
with the First Alabama Cavahy, and the Fu'st Missouri engi- 
neer regiment, having in charge a large pontoon-bridge train. 
This organization was effected by transferring all the troops of 
the Seventeenth Corps remaining on the Mississippi to the Six- 
teenth Corps, breaking up the detachment of the latter corps 
in the field, and transferring Ransom's division, now com- 
manded by Brigadier-General Giles A. Smith, and Corse's di- 
vision to the Seventeenth Corps. Major-Generals Logan and 
Blair were temporarily absent, engaged in the important poHti- 
cal canvass then in progress. Major-General Schofield re- 
turned to the headquarters of the Departmer.t of the Oliio, at 
Knoxville, to give liis personal attention to affau"s in that 
quarter, leaving Brigadier-General Jacob D. Cox in command 
of the Twenty-third Corps. The cavahy was reorganized so 
as to consist of two divisions under Brigadier-Generals Ken- 
ner Garrard and Judson Kilpatrick. 

As stated in the last chapter, the Army of the Cumberland, 
under Major-General Thomas, held Atlanta ; the Army of the 
Tennessee, commanded by Major-General Howard, was at 
East Point ; and the Army of the Oliio occupied Decatur. 
Garrard's cavahy division was also at Decatur, and Kilpat- 
rick's at Sandtown watching for any westward movement of 
the enemy. To render the communications more secure, with 
a view to the present wants of the army and possible future 
operations, Sherman sent Newton's division of Stanley's fourth 
corps, and Morgan's division of Jefferson C. Davis' fourteenth 
corps, cf the Army of the Cumberland, to Chattanooga, and 



TAKING BREATH. 



221 



Corse's division of Osterliaus' fifteenth corps, of the Army of 
the Tennessee, to Kome, to garrison those places. 

The tojDography of the country in the immediate vicinity of 
Atlanta was carefully studied, and a new hne of works con- 
structed for the defence of the place, capable of being 
maintained by a much smaller garrison than was contem- 
plated by the Confederate authorities when laying out the 
old line. 

Sherman now determined to make Atlanta exclusively a 
military post. On the 4th of September, he issued the follow- 
ing orders : — 

" The city of Atlanta belonging exclusively for warhke pur- 
poses, it will at once be vacated by all excej)t the armies of 
the United States and such civihan employes as may be re- 
tained by the proper departments of the Government 

At a proper time full arrangements will be made for a supply to 
the troops of all the articles they may need over and above 
clothing, provisions, &c., furnished by Government, and on no 
pretence whatever will traders, manufacturers, or sutlers be 
allowed to settle in the hmits of fortified places ; and if they 
manage to come in spite of this notice the quartermaster will 
seize their stores, apply them to the use of the troops, and de- 
liver the parties, or other unauthorized citizens who thus place 
their individual interest above that of the United States, over 
to the hands of some provost-marshal, to be put to labor on 
forts or conscripted into one of the regiments or battery al- 
ready in service. The same mihtary principles will apply to 
all military posts south of Atlanta." 

This order fell upon the ears of the inhabitants of Atlanta 
like a thunderbolt. Though they had lent all the moral and 
physical assistance in their power to the cause of the rebelhon, 
they had begun to dream of the advent of the Federal troops 
as the commencement of an era of quiet. They had never 
imagined that the war would reach Atlanta. Now that it had 
come, and kept its rough, hot hand iipon them for so many 



222 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

days, they were beginning to look forward to a long period 
wlien they might enjoy at once the advantage of the protec- 
tion of a just and powerful government, and the luxury of con- 
sidering the means whereby that protection was enforced 
against their chosen friends as a grievance. On the 11th of 
September the town authorities addressed the following petition 
to General Sherman, pra^dng the revocation of his orders : — 

" SiK — The undersigned, mayor, and two members of council 
for the city of Atlanta, for the time being the only legal organ 
of the people of the said city, to express their wants and 
wishes, ask leave, most earnestly, but respectfully, to petition 
you to reconsider the order requiring them to leave Atlanta. 

" At first view, it struck us that the measure would involve 
extraordinary hardship and loss, but since we have seen the 
practical execution of it, so far as it has progressed, and the 
indi"vddual condition of many of the people, and heard their 
statements as to the inconveniences, loss, and suffering attend- 
ing it, we are satisfied that it will involve, in the aggregate, 
consequences appalling and heartrending. 

" Many poor women are in an advanced state of pregnancy ; 
others now having young children, and whose husbands are 
either in the army, prisoners, or dead. Some say : I have 
such a one sick at home ; who will wait on them when I am 
gone ? Others say : What are we to do ? we have no houses 
to go to, and no means to buy, build, or to rent any — no 
parents, friends, or relatives to go to. Another says : I will 
try and take this or that article of i)roperty, but such and such 
things I must leave behind, though I need them much. We 
reply to them : General Sherman will carry your property to 
Kougli and Ready, and General Hood will take it from there 
on. And they wiR reply to that : But I want to leave the 
railway at such a point, and cannot get conveyance from 
there on. 

" We only refer to a few facts to try to illustrate in part how 
this measure will operate in practice. As you advanced, the 
people north of us fell back, and before your arrival here a 



TAKING BREATH. 223 

large portion of the people had retired south, so that the 
country south of this is ah'eady crowded, and without houses 
to accommodate the people, and we are informed that many 
are now starving in churches and other out-buildings. This 
being so, how is it possible for the people still here (mostly 
women and children) to find any shelter ? and how can they 
hve through the winter in the woods — no shelter nor subsist- 
ence — in the midst of strangers who know them not, and with- 
out the power to assist them, if they were willing to do so ? 

" This is but a feeble picture of the consequences of this 
measure. You know the woe, the horror, and the suffering can- 
not be described by words. Imagination can only conceive 
of it, and we ask you to take these things into consideration. 

"We know your mind and time are constantly occupied 
with the duties of your command, which almost deters us fi'om 
asking your attention to this matter ; but thought it might be 
that you had not considered the subject in all its awful conse- 
quences, and that on more reflection you, we hope, would not 
make this people an exception to all mankind, for we know of 
no such instance ever having occurred ; surely none such in 
the United States ; and what has this helpless people done 
that they should be driven fi'om their homes, to wander as 
strangers, outcasts, and exiles, and to subsist on charity ? 

"We do not know, as yet, the number of peojsle still here. 
Of those who are here, we are satisfied a respectable number, 
if allowed to remain at home, could subsist for several months 
without assistance, and a respectable number for a much 
longer time, and who might not need assistance at any time. 

"In conclusion, we must earnestly and solemnly petition 
you to reconsider this order, or modify it, and suffer this un- 
fortunate people to remain at home and enjoy what little 
means they have. 

" Respectfully submitted, 

" James M. C.yLHOUN, Mayor. 

"E. E. Eawson, Councilman. 

"L. C. Wells, Councilman." 



224 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

To this General Sherman replied, in full and clear terms, on 
the following day : 

" Gentlemen : I have your letter of the 11th, in the nature 
of a petition to revoke my orders removing all the inhabitants 
from Atlanta. I have read it carefully, and give full credit to 
your statements of the distress that will be occasioned by it, 
and yet shall not revoke my order, simply because my orders 
are not designed to meet the humanities of the case, but to 
prepare for the future struggles in which millions, yea hun- 
dreds of miUious of good people outside of Atlanta have a deep 
interest. We must have peace, not only at Atlanta, but in all 
America. To secure this we must stop the war that now 
desolates our once happy and favored country. To stop the war, 
we must defeat the rebel armies that are arrayed against the 
laws and Constitution, which all must respect and obey. To 
defeat these armies, we must prepare the way to reach them in 
their recesses, pro"vaded with the arms and instruments which 
enable us to accomphsh our purpose. 

" Now, I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, and that 
we may have many years of military operations from this 
quarter, and therefore deem it wise and prudent to prepare in 
time. The use of Atlanta for warlike purposes is inconsistent 
with its character as a home for families. There will be no 
manufactures, commerce, or agriculture here for the mainten- 
ance of families, and sooner or later want will compel the in- 
habitants to go. Why not go noio, when all the arrangements 
are completed for the transfer, instead of waiting until the 
plunging shot of contending armies will renew the scenes of 
the past mouth ? Of course I do not apprehend any such 
thing at this moment, but jou do not suppose this army ^\all 
be here till the war is over. I cannot discuss this subject 
with you fau'ly, because I cannot impart to you what I pro- 
pose to do, but I assert that my mihtary plans make it neces- 
sary for the inhabitants to go away, and I can only renew my 
offer of services to make their exodus in any direction as easy 



TAKING BREATH. 225 

and comfortable as possible. You cannot qualify war in 
harslier terms than I will. 

" "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it ; and those who 
brought war on our coilhtry deserve all the curses and male- 
dictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in 
making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to- 
day than any of you to secure peace. But you cannot have 
peace and a division of our country. If the United States 
submit to a division now, it will not stop, but will go on till we 
reap the fate of Mexico, which is eternal war. The United 
States does and must assert its authority wherever it has 
power ; if it relaxes one bit to pressure, it is gone, and I know 
that such is not the national feeling. This feehng assumes 
various shapes, but always comes back to that of Union. Once 
admit the Union, once more acknowledge the authority of the 
National Government, and instead of devoting your houses, 
and streets, and roads to the dread uses of war, I and this 
army become at once your protectors and supporters, shield- 
ing you from danger, let it come from what quarter it may. I 
know that a few indi^dduals cannot resist a torrent of error 
and passion such as has swept the South into rebellion ; but 
you can point out, so that we may know those who desire a 
government and those who insist on war and its desolation. 

" You might as well appeal against the thimder-storm as 
against these terrible hardships of war. They are ine-sdtable. 
and the onl}- way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to 
live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop this war, which 
can alone be done by admitting that it began in error and is 
perpetuated in pride. We don't want your negi'oes or your 
horses, or your houses or your land, or any thing you have ; 
but we do want, and will have, a just obedience to the laws of 
the United States. That we wiU have, and if it involves tho 
destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it. 

" You have heretofore read public sentiment in your news- 
papers, that Kve by falsehood and excitement, and the 
quicker you seek for truth in other quarters the better for 
you. I repeat, then, that by the original compact of govern - 

15 



226 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS 

ment, the United States had certain rights in Georgia which 
have never been rehnqiiished, and never will be ; that the 
South began the war bj seizing forts, arsenals, mints, custom- 
houses, etc., etc., long before Mr. Lincoln was installed, and 
before the South had one jot or tittle of provocation. I my- 
self have seen, in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missis- 
sippi, hundreds and thousands of women and children fleeing 
fi'om your armies and desperadoes, hungry, and with bleeding 
feet. In Memphis, Yicksburg, and Mississippi, we fed thous- 
ands upon thousands of the families of rebel soldiers left on 
our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now, that war 
comes home to you, you feel very differently — you deprecate its 
horrors, but did not feel them when you sent car-loads of 
soldiers and ammunition, and moulded shells and shot to carry 
war into Kentucky and Tennessee, and desolate the homes of 
hundreds and thousands of good people, who only asked to 
live in peace at their old homes, and under the government of 
their inheritance. But these comparisons are idle. I want 
peace, and believe it can onlj be reached through Union and 
war, and I will ever conduct war purely with a view to perfect 
and early success. 

" But, my dear sirs, when that peace does come, you may 
call upon me for any thing. Then will I share with you the 
last cracker, and watch with you to shield your home and 
famihes against danger from every quarter. Now, you must 
go, and take with you the old and feeble ; feed and nurse 
them, and build for them in more quiet places proper habita- 
tions to shield them against the weather, until the mad pas- 
sions of men cool down, and allow tlie Union and peace once 
more to settle on your old homes at Atlanta." 

As soon as his arrangements were completed. General Sher- 
man wrote to General Hood, by a flag of truce, notifying him 
of his orders, and proposing a cessation of hostilities for ten 
days, from the 12th of September, in the country included 
within a radius of two miles around Ptough and Keady Sta- 
tion, to enable him to complete the removal of those families 



TAKING BREATH. 227 

electing to go to the south. Hood immediately replied on the 
9th, acceding to the proposed truce, but protesting against 
Sherman's order. He concluded : — 

" Permit me to say, the unprecedented measure you propose 
transcends in studied and iniquitous cruelty all acts ever be- 
fore brought to my attention in this dark history of the war. 
In the name of God and humanity, I protest, beheving you 
are expelling from homes and firesides wives and children of 
a brave people." 

To this Sherman answered on the same date : — 

" General : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
of your letter of this date, at the hands of Messrs. Ball and 
Crew, consenting to the arrangement I had proposed to facili- 
tate the removal south of the people of Atlanta who prefer to 
go in that direction. I inclose you a copy of my orders, which 
will, I am satisfied, accomplish my purpose perfectly. 

" You style the measures proposed ' unprecedented,' and 
appeal to ' the dark liistory of war for a parallel as an act 
of studied and ingenious cruelty.' It is not unprece- 
dented, for General Johnston himself very wisely and prop- 
erly removed the families all the way from Dalton down, 
and I see no reason why Atlanta should be excepted. Nor 
is it necessary to appeal to ' the dark history of war,' when 
recent and modern examples are so handy. Ton yourself 
burned dwelling-houses along your parapet ; and I have seen, 
to-day, fifty houses that you have rendered uninhabitable 
because they stood in the way of your forts and men. You 
defended Atlanta on a line so close to the town that every 
cannon-shot, and many musket-shots from our line of invest- 
ment, that overshot their mark, went into the habitations of 
women and children. General Hardee did the same thing at 
Jonesboro', and General Johnston did the same last summer 
at Jackson, Mississippi. 

" I have not accused you of heartless cruelty, but merely in- 



228 SHERMAN AND HIS CAJMPAIGNS. 

stance tliese cases of very recent occurrence, and could go on 
and enumerate hundreds of others, and challenge any fair man 
to judge which of us has the heart of pity for the families of 
' brave people.' I say it is kindness to tliese families of At- 
lanta to remove them at once fi'om scenes that women and 
children should not be exposed to ; and the ' brave people ' 
should scorn to commit their wives and cliildren to the riide 
barbarians who thus, as you say, violate the rules of war as il- 
lustrated in the pages of its ' dark history.' 

" In the name of common sense, I ask you not to ' appeal to 
a just God' in such a sacrilegious manner — you who, in the 
midst of peace and prosperity, have plunged a nation into war, 
dark and cruel war ; who dared and badgered us into battle ; 
insulted our flag ; seized our arsenals and forts that were left 
in the honorable custody of a peaceful ordnance sergeant ; 
seized and made prisoners even the very first garrisons sent 
to protect your people against negroes and Indians, long- 
before any other act was committed by the, to you, ' hateful 
Lincoln government ;' tried to force Missouri and Kentucky 
into rebellion, in S23ite of themselves ; falsified the vote of 
Louisiana ; turned loose your privateers to plunder unarmed 
ships ; expelled Union families by the thousands, burned their 
houses, and declared by acts of your Congress the confiscation 
of all debts due Northern men for goods had and received. 
Talk thus to the Marines, but not to me, who have seen these 
things, and, who will this day make as much sacrifice for the 
peace and honor of the South as tlie best-born Southerner 
among you. If we must be enemies, let us be men, and fight 
it out as we propose to-day, and not deal in such hypocritical 
appeals to God and humanity. 

" God vvill judge us in due time, and he wiU pronounce 
whether it wiU be humane to fight with a town full of women 
and the famihes of ' a brave people ' at our back, or to remove 
them in time to places of safety among their own friends and 
people." 

During the truce, four hundred and forty-six famihes wer; 



TAKING BREATH. 229 

moved south, comprising seven hundred and five adults, eight 
iiundred and sixty children, and seventy-nine servants, with 
an average of sixteen hundred and fifty-one pounds of furni- 
ture and household goods of all kinds to each family. 

On the 8th, General Hood wrote to General 'Sherman pro- 
posing an exchange of prisoners captured by both armies since 
the commencement of the campaign just closed. Sherman 
repKed on the same day, agreeing to this proposition, on the 
basis of the old cartel, made by Generals Dix and Hill in 1862, 
but stating that he feared most of the prisoners in his hands 
were akeady beyond Chattanooga on their way north, and in 
custody of the commissary-general of prisoners. The next 
day he again wrote : — 

" General — As I engaged yesterday, I consent to an actual 
exchange of prisoners, man for man, and equal for equal, 
differences or balance to be made up according to the cartel 
of 1862. I have appointed one of my inspector-generals, 
Lieutenant-Colonel W. Warner, to carry out this exchange, 
and will empower him to call for the prisoners, and aU such 
guards as he may need to affect the actual transfers. "We have 
here twenty-eight ofiicers and seven hundred and eighty-two 
enlisted men; and en route for Chattanooga, ninety-three 
ofiicers and nine hundred and seven men, making one thou- 
sand eight hundred and ten on hand that I will exchange for a 
hke number of my own men, captured by you in this campaign, 
who belong to regiments with me, and who can resume their 
places at once, as I take it for granted you will do the same 
with yours. In other words, for these men I am not willing 
to take equivalents belonging to other armies than my own, 
or who belong to regiments whose times are out and who have 
been discharged. 

"By your laws all men ehgible for ser\dce are ipso fcwto 
soldiers, and a very good one it is ; and, if needed for civil 
duty, they are simply detailed soldiers. We found in Atlanta 
about a thousand of these fellows, and I am satisfied they are 
fit subjects of exchange ; and if you will release an equal num- 



230 SHERMAN AND HIS CAIviPAIGNS. 

ber of our poor fellows at Anderson I will gather tliese togetlier 
and send tliem as prisoners. They seem to have been detailed 
for railroad and shop duty, and I do not ask for them an equal 
number of my trained soldiers, but will take men belonging 
to any part of the United States army subject to your 
control. 

" We hold a good many of your men styled ' deserters,' 
who are really stragglers, and would be a good offset to such 
of our stragglers and foragers as your cavalry pick up of our 
men ; but I am constrained to give these men, though sorely 
against the grain, the benefit of their character, pretended or 
real. 

" As soon as Colonel Warner agrees upon a few points with 
the officer you name, I will send the prisoners to the place 
appointed, and recall those not beyond Chattanooga ; and you 
may count on about two thousand in the aggregate, and get 
ready to give me a like number. 

" I am willing to appoint Rough and Ready or Jonesboro' 
as the place of exchange, as also for the place of dehvering 
the citizens, male and female, of Atlanta, who start to go 
south. 

To this Hood answered on the 11th : — 

" SiE — I had the honor, on the 9th instant, to propose to 
you an exchange of prisoners — officers and men captured by 
both armies since the commencement of the present cam- 
paign. 

" On the same day you answered my communication, stating 
that you accepted my offer ' to exchange prisoners of war in 
hand at this moment.' There being no condition attached to 
the acceptance, on your part, of my offer to exchange prisoners, 
I regarded it as obligatory to the extent of the number of 
prisoners represented by you to be within your jurisdiction. 

At the meeting on the 11th instant between our respective 
staff officers. Major J. B. Eustis and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Warner, intended to arrange such prehminaries as the time 



TAKING BREATH. 231 

and place of delivery, etc., a communication was received from 
you rendering, I regi-et to inform you, an exchange of prisoners 
impossible. 

" Your refusal to receive, in exchange, your soldiers belong- 
ing to ' regiments whose times are out, and who have been dis- 
charged,' discloses a fixed purpose on the part of your Govern- 
ment to doom to ho23eless captivity those prisoners whose 
term of service have expired, or will soon expu-e. 

" The new principle which you seek to interpolate on the 
cartel of our respective governments, as well as upon the laws 
and customs of war, wUl not be sanctioned by me. All captives 
taken in war, who owe no obligations to the captors, must 
stand upon the same equal footing. The duration of these 
terms of service can certainly impose no duties or obKgations 
on the captors. The volunteer of a day, and the conscript for 
the war, who may be captured in war, are equally subject to 
all the burdens, and equally entitled to all the rights secured 
by the laws of nations. This principle is distinctly conceded 
in the cartel entered into by our respective governments, and 
is sanctioned by honor, justice, and the public law of all 
civihzed nations. 

" My offer to exchange the prisoners captured during the 
campaign precludes an intention on my part in the dehvery to 
discriminate between your prisoners, as all would have been 
dehvered ; and even had it been intended, this discrimination 
between your men, whose term of service had and had not 
expired, would have been impossible, and could not have been 
effected, as I had no rehable means of ascertaining what por- 
tion of your men were entitled to their discharge. 

" Your avowal that this class of your soldiers will not be 
exchanged, but will be rewarded by the sufferings and priva- 
tions incident to mihtary imprisonment because their boldness 
and coui-age subjected them to capture, although their terms 
of service had nearly expired, is deeply regretted by me, as I 
have the earnest desire of my Government to release fi'om pro- 
longed confinement the large number of prisoners held by 
both parties. 



232 SHEllMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" Permit me to hope that this declared policy of your Gov- 
ernment wiU be reconsidered, as it is mijustlj oppressive to 
those whom the hazards of mihtary service have rendered 
prisoners, and is violative of the well-understood obhgations 
of a Government towards those who are erJisted in its 
service. 

" As was proper, I notified my Government of my ojBfer to 
you to effect an exchange of prisoners captured during this 
campaign ; and not only was my action approved, but my 
Government placed at my entire disposal for immediate ex- 
change, man for man, all the prisoners at Andersonville. 

" I have the honor to renew my offer to exchange prisoners 
as proposed in my first communication, and remain your 
obedient servant, 

"J. B. Hood, 

" General." 

By gathering up all the Confederate prisoners at Chatta- 
nooga and Atlanta, and all small squads in various quarters, 
Sherman succeeded in collecting about two thousand of them, 
and, notwithstanding the difficulties raised in the foregoing 
correspondence, a special exchange of these for an equal num- 
ber of Union prisoners in the hands of the enemy was presently 
agreed upon and carried into effect. 

It was found necessary to confine the operations of the long 
lines of military railwaj^s connecting Atlanta -^dth the Ohio 
River to the transportation of troops and materials of war. 
Sherman gave the most stringent orders on this subject to all 
his subordinates having charge of the matter. They were not 
to allow a person or thing not needed and intended for the 
army to come to the front, nor a person or thing not sent from 
the army to go to the rear, without passes from himself or one 
of the three army commanders. Such passes were very spar- 
ingly given, and only in clearly exceptional cases. Every ton 
of freight, animate or inanimate, not strictly necessary for the 
immediate purposes of his army, diverted just so much power 
and occupied just so much space absolutely needed for those 



TAKING BREATH. 233 

purposes. The railways Lad not sufficient capacity to serve 
both the army and the citizens, and the army alone was now to 
be considered. 

We may now glance briefly at Sherman's correspondence 
during this interval and the preceding campaign. 

With regard to the treatment of guerrillas he wrote to Gen- 
eral Burbridge in June : — 

" Even on the Southern State-rights theory, Kentucky has 
not seceded. Her people, by their vote and by their action, 
have adhered to their allegiance to the National Government 
and the South would now coerce her out of our Union and into 
theii's, — the very dogma of coercion upon which so much stress 
was laid at the outset of the war, and which carried into rebel- 
Hon the people of the Middle or Border Slave States. But 
poHticS aside, these acts of the so-called partisans or giierril- 
las are nothing but simple murder, horse-stealing, arson, and 
other well-defined crimes which do not sound as well under 
their true names as the more agreeable ones of warlike mean- 
ing. Now, before starting on this campaign, I foresaw, as you 
remember, that this very case would arise, and I asked Gov- 
ernor Bramlette to at once organize in each county a small 
trvistworthy band, under the sheriff, if possible, and at once ar- 
rest every man in the community who was dangerous to it, and 
also every fellow hanging about the towns, villages, and cross- 
roads Avho had no honest calling, the material out of which 
guerrillas are made up ; but this sweeping exercise of power 
doubtless seemed to the governor rather arbitrary. The fact 
is, in our country persona? liberty has been so well secured, that 
public safety is lost sight of in our laws and constitutions ; and 
the fact is we are thrown back a hundred years in civiliza- 
tion, law, and every thing else, and will go right straight to 
anarchy and the devil, if somebody don't arrest our downward 
progress. We, the mihtary, must do it, and we have right and 
law on our side. All governments and communities have a 
right to guard against real or even supposed danger. The 
whole people of Kentucky must not be kept in a state of sus- 



234 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

|>eiise and real danger, lest a few innocent men should be 
wrongfully accused. 

" 1st. Tou may order all your post and district commanders, 
that guerrillas are not soldiers, but wild beasts, imknown to 
the usage of war. To be recognized as soldiers, they must be 
enhsted, enrolled, officered, uniformed, armed, and equipped 
by some recognized belligerent power, and must, if detached, 
from a main army, be of sufficient strength, with written orders 
from some army commander, to do some military thing. Of 
course, we have recognized the Confederate Government as a 
belligerent power, but deny their right to our lands, territories, 
rivers, coasts, and nationaUty, admitting the right to rebel 
and move to some other country, w^here laws and customs are 
more in accordance with their own ideas and prejudices. 

" 2d. The civil power being sufficient to protect life and prop- 
erty, ' ex necessitate rei,' and to prevent anarchy, ' which nature 
abhors,' the mihtary steps in, and is rightful, constitutional, 
and lawful. Under this law, everybody can be made to ' stay 
kt home, and mind his or her own business,' and if they won't 
do that, can be sent away where they won't keep their honest 
neighbors in fear of danger, robbery, and insult. 

" 3d. Your mihtary commanders, provost-marshals, and other 
agents, may arrest all males and females who have encouraged 
or harbored guerrillas and robbers, and you may cause them to 
be collected in Louisville ; and when you have enough, say 
three hundred or four hundred, I will cause them to be sent 
down the Mississippi, through their guerrilla gauntlet, and by 
a saihng ship send them to a land where they may take their 
negroes and make a colony, with laws and a future of their 
own. If they won't Hve in j^eace in such a garden as Ken- 
tucky, why we will kindly send them to another, if not a better 
land, and surely this would be a kindness and a God's blessing 
to Kentucky. I wish you to be careful that no personahties 
are mixed up in this ; nor does a full and generous love of 
country, ' of the South,' of their State or country, form a 
cause of lianishment, but that devihsh spirit which will not 
be satisfied, and that makes war the pretext for murder. 



TAKING BEEATH. 235 

arson, theft in all its grades, and all the crimes of human 
nature. 

" My own preference was and is ' that the civil authorities of 
Kentucky would and could do this in that State ; but if they 
will not, or cannot, then we must, for it must be done. There 
must be an 'end to strife,' and the honest, industrious people 
of Kentucky, and the whole world, will be benefited and re- 
joiced at the conclusion, however arrived at. I use no con- 
cealment in saying that I do not object to men or women 
having what they call ' Southern feehngs,' if confined to love 
of country, and of peace, honor, and security, and even of 
little family' pride; but these become 'crimes' when enlarged 
to mean love of murder, of war, desolation, famine, and all the 
horrible attendants of anarchy.' " 

A few days later, on the 5th of July, Sherman's representa- 
tions to the War Department, to the hke effect, induced Presi- 
dent Lincoln to order the declaration of martial law and the 
suspension of the writ of haheas corpus throughout Kentucky. 

With regard to the use of torpedoes, concerning ^^'hich he 
apprehended trouble, he wrote in advance to General Steed- 
man, left in command at Chattanooga : — 

" As the question may arise, and you have a right to the 
support of any authority, I now decide that the use of the 
torpedo is justifiable in war, in advance of an army, so as to 
make his advance up a river or over a road more dangerous 
and difficult. But after the adversary has gained the coun- 
try by fair warlike means, then the case entirely changes. 

" The use of torpedoes in blowing up our cars and the road 
after they are in our possession, is simply malicious. It can- 
not alter the great problem, but simply makes trouble. Now 
if torpedoes are found in the possession of an enemy to our 
rear, you may cause them to be put on the ground, and tested 
by wagon loads of prisoners, or if need be, by citizens im- 
pHcated in their use. In like manner, if a torpedo is sus- 
pected on any part of the road, order the point to be tested 



236 SHEEMAl^ AND HIS CAilPAIGNS. 

bj a car-load of prisoners, or citizens implicated, drawn by a 
long rope. Of course an enemy cannot complain of his own 
traps." 

At this time Sherman considered the expediency of enlisting 
negroes in the army as an open question, which he was, indeed, 
■willing and desirous to have decided by a fail* test, but still an 
open one ; while their adaptation to service as teamsters and 
laborers he regarded as demonstrated by experience, and the 
necessity for their use in some capacity as obvious. Northern 
Georgia having been almost denuded of its able-bodied colored 
population by their removal by their former masters to the 
southern portion of the State, and the number still available 
not being more than sufficient to iiU up the ranks of the ex- 
isting colored regiments abeady belonging to his army, he 
opposed the practice, just then begun, of sending commis- 
sioners to his command to recruit for men to fill the quotas of 
the Northern States. Under date of July 30, he wrote to Mr. 
John A. Spooner, agent for the State of Massachusetts, then 
at Nashville : — 

" On applying to General Webster, at Nashville, he will 
grant you a pass through our lines to those States ; and, as I 
have had considerable experience in those States, I would sug- 
gest recruiting depots to be estabKshed at Macon and Colum- 
bus, Mississippi ; Selma, Montgomery, and MobUe, Alabama ; 
and Columbus, Milledgeville, and Savannah, Georgia, 

" I do not see that the law restricts you to black recruits, 
but you are at hberty to collect white recruits also. It is 
waste of time and money to open rendezvous in northwest 
Georgia, for I assure you I have not seen an able-bodied man, 
black or white, there, fit for a soldier, who was not in this 
army or the one opposed to it. 

" You speak of the impression going abroad that I am op- 
posed to the organization of colored regiments. My opinions 
are usually very positive, and there is no reason why you 
should not know them. Though entertaining profound rever- 



TAKING BREATH. 237 

ence for our Congress, I do doubt tlieir wisdom in the passage 
of this law : 

" 1. Because civilian agents about an army are a nuisance. 

" 2, The duty of citizens to fight for their country is too 
sacred a one to be peddled off by buying up the refuse of 
other States. 

" 3. It is unjust to the brave soldiers and volunteers who are 
fighting as those who compose this army do, to place them on 
a par "with the class of recruits you are after. 

" 4. The negro is in a transition state, and is not the equal 
of the white man. 

" 5. He is hberated from his bondage by act of war, and the 
armies in the field are entitled to all his assistance in labor 
and fighting, in addition to the proper quotas of the States. 

" 6. This bidding and bartering for recruits, white and black, 
has delayed the re-enforcement of the armies at the times 
when such re-enforcements would have enabled us to make 
our successes permanent. 

" 7. The law is an experiment which, pending war, is unwise 
and unsafe, and has delayed the universal draft, which I firmly 
beheve will become necessary to overcome the wide-spread 
resistance offered us ; and I also believe the universal draft 
will be wise and beneficial, for, under the providence of God, 
it will separate the sheep from the goats, and demonstrate 
what citizens will fight for their country, and what wiU only 
talk. 

" No one will infer from this that I am not a fiiend of the 
negro as well as the white race. I contend that the treason 
and rebeUion of the master fi"eed the slave, and the armies I 
have commanded have conducted to safe points more negroes 
than those of any general officer in the army ; but I prefer 
negroes for pioneers, teamsters, cooks, and servants ; others 
graduall}^ to experiment in the art of the soldier, beginning 
with the duties of local garrisons, such as we had at Memphis, 
Vicksburg, Natchez, NashvUle, and Chattanooga ; but I would 
not draw on the poor race for too large a proportion of its 
active, athletic young men, for some must remain to seek new 



238 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNa 

homes, and provide for tlie old and young, tlie feelile and 
helpless. 

" These are some of my peculiar notions, bnt I assure you 
they are shared by a large proportion of our fighting men." 

In further explanation of these views, he subsequently wrote 
to Adjutant-General Thomas, then in special charge of the 
duty of raising colored troops in the West and Southwest : — 

" My preference is to mal:e this radical change wdth natural 
slowness. If negroes are taken as soldiers by undue influence 
or force, and compelled to leave their women in the uncertainty 
of their new condition, they cannot be relied on ; but if they 
can put their families in some safe place, and then earn money 
as soldiers or laborers, the transition mil be more easy and 
the effect more permanent. "Wliat my order contemplated was 
the eagerness of recruiting captains and lieutenants to make 
up their quota, in order to be commissioned. They would use 
a species of force or undue influence, and break up our gangs 
of laborers, as necessary as soldiers. We find gangs of negro 
laborers, well organized, on the Mississippi, at Nashville, and 
along the railroads, most useful, and I have used them vnih 
great success as pioneer companies attached to divisions ; and 
I think it would be well if a law would sanction such an organ- 
ization, say of one hundred to each division of four thousand 
men. The first step in the liberation of the negro from 
bondage will be to get him and family to a place of safety ; 
then to afford him the means of providing for his family, for 
their instincts are very strong ; then gradually use a propor- 
tion, greater and greater each year, as sailors and soldiers. 
There wiU be no great difficulty in our absorbing the foui* 
millions of slaves in this great industrious country of ours ; 
and, being lost to their masters, the cause of the war is gone, 
for this great money interest then ceases to be an element in 
our politics and civil economy. If you divert too large a pro- 
])ortion of the able-bodied men into the ranks, you will leave 
too large a class of black paiipers on our hands. 



TAKING BREATH. 239 

" The great mass of our soldiery must be of the white race, 
and the black troops should for some years be used vnth. cau- 
tion, and with due regard to the prejudice of the races. As 
v.as to be expected, in some instances they have done well, in 
others, badly ; but, on the whole, the experiment is worthy a 
f;iir trial, and all I ask is, that it be not forced beyond the laws 
of natural development." 

On the 29th of August he issued the following compre- 
hensive order on the subject of trade within the limits of his 
command, for the i)urpose of carrying out the provisions of 
the act of Congress, approved Jidy 2, 1864, and the regula- 
tions of the Secretary of the Treasury, made in pursuance 
thereof : — 

" I. AU trade is prohibited near armies in the field, or moving 
columns of troops, save that necessary to supply the wants of 
the troops themselves. Quartermasters and commissaries will 
take such supplies as are needed in the countries passed 
through, giving receipts, and taking the articles up on their 
returns. When cotton is found, and transportation to the rear 
is easy and does not interfere with the supplies of the army 
dependent on the route, the quartermaster will ship the cotton 
to the quartermaster at Nashville or Memphis, who will de- 
liver it to the agent of the Treasury Department. It mU be 
treated as captured property of an enemy, and invoiced ac- 
cordingly. No claim of private interest in it will be enter- 
tained by the military authorities. 

" II. In departments and military districts, embracing a 
country "oithin our military control, the commanders of sucli 
departments and districts may permit a trade in articles not 
contraband of war or damagmg to the operations of the army 
at the front, through the properly appointed agents and siib- 
agents of the Treasury Department, to an extent proportionate 
to the necessities of the peaceful and worthy inhabitants of the 
localities described ; but as trade and the benefits of ci\al gov- 
ernment are conditions not only of the fidelity of the people, 
but also of an ability to maintain peace and order in their dis- 



240 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

trict, county, or locality, commanding officers will give notice 
that aU trade will cease wliere guerrillas are tolerated and 
encouraged ; and moreoTer, tliat in sucli districts and localities, 
the army or detachments sent to maintain the peace must be 
maintained by the district or locahty that tolerates or en- 
courages such guerrillas. 

" III. All military officers will assist the agents of the Treas- 
ury Department in securing the possession of all abandoned 
property and estates subject to confiscation under the law. 

" IV. The use of weapons for hunting purposes is too dan- 
gerous to be allowed at this time, and therefore the introduc- 
tion of all arms and powder, percussion-caps, bullets, shot, 
lead, or any thing used in connection "vvdth firearms, is pro- 
hibited absolutely, save by the proper agents of the United 
States ; and wdien the mhabitants require and can be trusted 
with such things for seK-defence, or for aiding in maintaining 
the peace and safety of their families and property, command- 
ing officers may issue the same out of the pubHc stores in 
limited quantities. 

" Y. Medicines and clothing, as weU as salt, meats, and pro- 
visions, being quasi -contraband of war, according to the con- 
dition of the district or locality, when offered for sale, will be 
regulated by local commanders, in connection with the agents 
of the Treasury Department. 

" VL In articles non-contraband, such as the clothing needed 
for women and children, groceries and imported articles, the 
trade should be left to the Treasury agents, as matters too un- 
important to be noticed by military men . 

" VII. When military officers can indicate a preference to 
the class of men allowed to trade, they w^ill always give the 
preference to men who have served the Government as soldiers, 
and are wounded or incapacitated from further service by such 
wounds or sickness. Men who manifest loyalty by oaths, and 
nothing more, are entitled to live, but not to ask favors of a 
Government that demands acts and personal sacrifices." 



HOOD'S INVASION. 



241 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

hood's invasion. 

The condition of affairs in the several theatres of war in the 
month of September, 1864, may be summed up in a few words. 

Grant held Lee firmly at Petersburg, mth a large force under 
Sheridan stopping the debouches from the VaUey of the Shen- 
andoah, and showed an evident purpose of persisting in his 
operations until a decisive result should be reached. In North 
and South Carolina matters were passive. Sherman, as we 
have seen, was at Atlanta and Hood southwest of that place, 
both watching each other ; each preparing to take the initia- 
tive. Along the Mississippi and west of that river no opera- 
tions of importance were in progress. Mobile was constantly 
threatened, more to compel the Confederates to keep a garri- 
son there than with any intention of resorting to decisive 
measures. For practical purposes, all the troops of the enemy 
west of the Mississippi might be considered out of the war, 
since, unless by some unhkely accident, they were powerless 
to influence the decisive campaigns about to commence. 

In point of fact, the issue of the war was now concentrated 
upon the result of the approaching campaigns of the two main 
armies on either side. It was ob^dous that the Union armies 
would, if allowed to complete all their preparations and select 
theii" time and direction, continue the offensive. Should Sher- 
man move to the southeast, while Hood maintained his pres- 
ent position, it would be in the power of the former, should he 
be able to reach the sea-coast in safety, to place himself in com- 
munication with Grant, and thus wrest from the Confederates 
their great advantage of interior hues. Under these circum- 
stances, it was evidently Hood's true policy to abandon aU at- 
tempts to hold the line of the Chattahoochee or the country west 

16 



242 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

of it, and placing liis army east of Atlanta, to be prepai ed to resist 
an advance of Sherman down the Atlantic slope, or to operate 
upon liis flanks in case lie should essay a movement towards 
the Gulf. At the same time the Confederate cavaby should 
have been constantly engaged in destroying the railways lead- 
ing to the north, thus interrupting Sherman's communications, 
and retarding, if not entirely preventing, the accumulation of 
the ammunition and other stores requisite to enable him to 
push the invasion. Had Hood's army been held between Lee 
and Sherman, the Confederates could, at some favorable 
moment, have ^concentrated the bulk of both their main 
armies, augmented by numerous garrisons and detachments, 
upon either theatre of war, according to circumstances, and 
placing one army on the strict defensive, suddenly assume the 
bold offensive with the other, with greater chances of success 
than were presented by any other course. 

But Jefferson Davis saw only a, foe to be destroyed and but 
one speedy means of destroying him. To have followed the 
course we have indicated, might have appeared to the public 
and the press of the Confederacy as an indorsement of Johns- 
ton's mode of warfare. Such a thing could not be tolerated 
for an instant. Hurrying from Richmond to the West, Davis 
visited his army, conversed with his generals, and gave Iris 
orders for their future government. To the army he promised 
that their feet should again press the soil of Tennessee. To 
the citizens he avowed that within thirty days the barbarous 
invader would be driven from their territory. The retreat of 
Sherman from Atlanta, he said, should be like Napoleon's 
from Moscow. 

About the 20th of September, Forrest, with his cavalry, 
crossed the Tennessee near "Waterloo, Alabama, destroyed a 
portion of the railway between Decatur and Athens, and on the 
23d appeared before the latter place, and drove the garrison, 
consisting of six hundred men of the One Hundred and Sixth, 
One Hundred and Tenth, and One Hundred and Eleventh 
regiments of colored troops, and Third Tennessee Cavalry, 
the whole under command of Colonel Campbell, of the One 



HOOD'S INVASION. 243 

Hundred and Tenth, into the fort constructed for the defence 
of the place. On the 24th, Forrest having completely invested 
the fort, succeeded in persuading Colonel Campbell, in a per- 
sonal interview which that officer granted him, after refusing 
to comply with his summons to surrender, that it was useless 
to resist the odds against the garrison ; and Colonel Campbell 
accordingly capitulated. Half an hour afterwards the Nine- 
teenth Michigan and One Hundred and Second Ohio regiments 
arrived, but Forrest being now at hberty to use his entire 
force against them, they were soon compelled to yield, after a 
hard fight. Forrest then moved on, destroying the railway 
as he went, until the' 27th, when he arrived before Pulaski, 
where he was confrontqd and successfully resisted by a garri- 
son hastily collected by Major-General Lovell H. Rousseau. 
Finding his progress barred in this direction, on the 29th 
Forrest svning round to the Nashville and Chattanooga rail- 
way and began to break it up between Tullahoma and Decherd ; 
but General Rousseau, divining this plan, moved so rapidly 
by rail through Nashville to Tullahoma that he reached that 
place before the main body of Forrest's command could come 
up, and Major-General Steedman with five thousand men from 
Chattanooga, having crossed the Tennessee on the same day 
to check his movements, Forrest fell back through Fayetteville 
during the night. The next day the railway was again in 
running order. Forrest then divided his command into two 
columns, one under Buford being four thousand strong, and 
the other, commanded by himself in person, numbering three 
thousand. Buford appeared before Huntsville on the evening 
of the 30th, demanded the surrender of the garrison that night 
and again on the following morning, and being on both occa- 
sions refused, moved on Athens and attacked that place on the 
afternoon of October 1st and the morning of the 2d, but was 
gallantly repulsed by the Seventy-third Indiana, under Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Slade, which Brigadier-General R. S. Granger had 
just sent to reoccupy the place. Buford then abandoned his 
portion of the expedition and recrossed the Tennessee on the 
3d at Brown's Ferry. Forrest, with his own column, appeared 



244 SHERMAN AND fflS CALiPAIGNS. 

before Columbia on tlie 1st of October, but did not attack, 
and on tlie morning of the 3d he too turned liis face to the 
south, passed through Lawrenceburg on the night of the 4th, 
and on the 6th, though closely pressed, succeeded in effecting 
his escape across the Tennessee at Bainbridge. Meanwhile, 
dangers had been thickening in his path, for Newton's division 
of Stanley's fourth corps, now under Brigadier-General Wag- 
ner, left Atlanta on the 26th and replaced Steedman at Chatta- 
nooga two days later ; Morgan's second division of Jefferson 
C. Davis' fourteenth corps started north on the 29th, reached 
Stevenson early on the 1st of October and Huntsville the same 
night, Athens on the night of the 2d, Kogersville on the 4th, 
and came up and skirmished with Forrest's rear-guard at 
Shoal Creek bridge ; Kovisseau, with four thousand cavalry 
and mounted infantry, followed Forrest from Columbia, at 
Pulaski was joined by Major-General C. C. Washburne with 
three thousand cavahy from Memphis, and together they 
reached Waynesboro' on the 6th. Moreover, on the 28th of 
September, as soon as he became convinced of the enemy's 
designs, Sherman had dispatched Major-General Thomas to 
Nashville to take personal command of the rear, and on the 
3d, Thomas had reached that place and put in motion this 
combination, which but for unforeseen causes, such as the rise 
of Elk River in front of Morgan, must, in all probabihty, have 
resulted in Forrest's destruction. 

On the 1st of October, Hood began his fatal march to the 
north. Sending his cavalry in advance to move rapidly 
against Sherman's communications beyond Marietta, he 
crossed the Chattahoochee with his three corps of infantry, 
and pushed north by way of Dallas. 

Leaving Slocum with his Twentieth Corps to hold Atlanta 
and the railway bridge over the Chattahoochee, on the 4th of 
October, in accordance with his previous intentions and ar- 
rangements, Sherman marched with the remainder of his 
army to Smyrna Camp Ground, and on the follo-wang day to a 
strong position at Kenesaw Mountain. The enemy's cavaby 
and French's division of Stewart's corps had struck the rail- 



HOOD'S INVASION. 245 

way at Big Slianty, effectually destroyed it and tlie tek graph 
for a distance of twenty miles, and was now moving on Alla- 
toona Pass, where were stored a million of rations, guarded 
by the Ninety-third Illinois regiment, under Lieutenant-Col- 
onel Tourtellotte, behind the redoubts previously constructed. 
The telegraph wires being broken by the enemy, and the in- 
termediate country occupied by his troops, Sherman sent a 
message by signals to Brigadier-General Corse, who, as we 
have seen, was at Home with his division of the Fifteenth 
Corps, directing that officer to re-enforce the threatened post 
without delay. Corse started immediately by railway with 
the Fourth Minnesota and Seventh Illinois, and reached 
Allatoona at one o'clock, A. M., on the 5th of October ; but, 
owing to an accident to the train, it was so late in return- 
ing that no more troops had arrived when, an hour after 
Corse's arrival, French with his division appeared before 
the place and opened a brisk skirmish fire. By dayhght, 
the works at Allatoona, manned by one thousand nine hun- 
dred and forty-four men, were completely invested by French's 
entire division of the Confederate army. At half-past eight, 
on the 5th, after a sharp cannonade of two hours' duration. 
General French sent a note to General Corse, under a flag 
of truce, intimating that he would give the garrison just 
five minutes to surrender, in order to spare the unnecessary 
effusion of human blood. Corse instantly repHed that he 
should not surrender, and that he was prepared for this un- 
necessary effusion of blood as soon as his assailant chose to 
begin it. The enemy immediately assaulted with great fury ; 
and again and again, during the day, his columns surged 
madly up against the parapets, only to be as often hurled 
back with great slaughter by the intrepid little garrison, stand- 
ing as grim and immovable as the rock itself ; until at night 
the shattered remnants of the enemy were at length driven 
from every position, and the possession of Allatoona was 
secure. At ten o'clock in the morning Sherman in person 
reached Kenesaw Mountain, eighteen miles distant, and 



246 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

thence saw and faintly lieaj-d, but only too fully compreliended, 
what was transpmng at his depot. The distance was too 
great to ofifer any hope of being able to render direct assist- 
ance before the struggle should be decided, but Sherman at 
once sent the Twenty-third Corps, under Cox, out on the 
Burnt Hickory road, towards Dallas, to move against the 
fi:.nk and rear of the forces threatening Allatoona. From 
mountain to mountain the little signal flags, spelling their 
message in quiet defiance of hostile force, waved from Sher- 
man to Corse the words few and simple, but of thrilling im- 
port, which announced to him the presence of the commander- 
in-chief on the overlooking height of Kenesaw, the movement of 
troops for his reUef, and exhorted him to hold out to the last. 
Quickly the flags moved again with Corse's brave reply, which 
would show his commander, even if there had been misgiv- 
ings on the subject, that here was a captain who would fight 
to the death for Allatoona and the safety of the army, resting 
at that moment upon the unaided strength of his single arm, 
But there were no such doubts. No sooner did the flags speak 
Corse's name, than Sherman exclaimed, " If Corse is there he 
will hold out. I know the man !" In this stubborn defence 
against apparently overwhelming odds, the garrison, number- 
ing less than two thousand, lost seven hundi'ed and seven 
officers and men killed and wounded ; among the latter, 
Brigadier-General Corse liimself, who, though struck in the 
face by a bullet about noon, declined to leave the, field, and 
by his own energy and spirit imbued his command with the 
strength that gave them the victory. Colonel Eichard Eowell, 
Seventh Illinois, and Lieutenant-Colonel Tourtellotte, Ninety- 
third Illinois, both of whom behaved with remarkable gal- 
lantry, were also wounded. The garrison captured eight hun- 
dred muskets, three stands of colors, and four hundred and 
eleven prisoners, and after the enemy retired, buried two hun- 
dred and thirty-one of their men, who were killed outright. 
The arrival of the Fourth and Fourteenth Corps at Pine 
Mountain, and the movement of the Twenty- third Corps on 



HOOD'S INVASION. 247 

Dallas, hastened French's withdrawal towards the latter place, 
after his severe defeat. 

Hood now moved rapidly to the northwest, aiming to reach 
the railway at Eesaca. On the 6th and 7th, holding his army 
about Kenesaw, Big Shanty, and Kenesaw Mountain, Sher- 
man sent his cavahy towards Burnt Hickory and Dallas, and 
discovered this movement of the enemy. Accordingly, on '.he 
afternoon of the 10th, he put the troops in motion through 
Allatoona Pass, on Kingston. By a forced march of thii'ty-eight 
miles, the three armies reached Kingston on the 11th. On the 
12th, the march was continued to Rome, a brigade of Hazen's 
division of Osterhaus' fifteenth corps being sent in advance, 
by railwa}", from Allatoona, to occupy the place, in anticipa- 
tion of Hood's movement against it. Sherman pushed Gar- 
rard's division of cavahy and the Twenty-thu'd Corps across 
the Oostanaula, to menace the enemy's flanks, and Garrard 
succeeded in driving a brigade of the enemy through the narrow 
entrance of the valley of the Chattooga, capturing two guns, 
while, at the same time, Corse crossed the Etowah with his 
division, and the brigade of Hazen's division that had come 
forward by rail, and made a reconnoissance with a view to 
develop the force of the enemy guarding their pontoon bridge, 
sixteen miles below. Having thus ascertained that Hood's 
movement upon Rome had been merely a feint, and that he 
had in fact crossed the Coosa with his entu-e army, and was 
hastening with all speed towards Resaca and Dalton, Sherman 
put his command, except Corse's division, left to hold Rome, 
in motion, on the 13th, towards the former place, and ordered 
Howard to send forward Belknap's division of Ransom's 
seventeenth corps by railway to the rehef of the garrison, ar- 
riving about midnight. From Kingston, Sherman had sent 
two regiments of Howard's army, under Colonel Weaver, to 
occupy Resaca, and had afterwards caused them to be re-en- 
forced by Baum's brigade of John E. Smith's division of the 
Fifteenth Corps. Hood appeared before the small garrison 
with his entire army, but General Baum showed so bold and 
extended a front that, probably retaining a vivid recollection 



248 SHERMAN AND HIS CA]\IPAIGNS. 

of Allatoona, and knowing tlie contagions effect of such an 
example both, upon besieged and besiegers, Hood contented 
himself with an attack by a skirmish line, and a summons to 
surrender, coupled with a threat that no prisoners would be 
taken in case he were compelled to carry the placeby assault. 
During the parley, portions of Hood's army were engaged in 
effectually destroying the railway for twenty miles to the 
northward, and in capturing the small and unresisting gar- 
risons at Tilton and Dalton. On the evening of the 14th, 
Sherman, with the main body of the army, arrived in Resaca, 
and on the 15th, directing the Army of the Tennessee to move 
to Snake Creek Gap, and hold the enemy there, he caused 
Stanley, with the Fourth and Fourteenth Corps, to move by 
Tilton, across the mountains towards Villanow, in order to 
strike Hood in flank or force him to fight. But Hood evi- 
dently considered it his policy, at this time, to avoid a battle, 
for his lines gave way about noon before the advance of How- 
ard's skirmishers, and, followed by Howard, he escaped 
through Snake Creek Gap before Stanley had time to reach 
the other end of the Pass, and rapidly retreated, in a south- 
westerly direction, down the valley of the Coosa, to the 
vicinity of Gadsden, and occupied the narrow gorge formed by 
the Lookout Mountains abutting against the river. On the 
16th, Sherman moved towards Lafayette with the view of cut- 
ting off Hood's retreat, and found him intrenched at Ship's 
Gap ; but Woods' division of Osterhaus' fifteenth corps, hav- 
ing the advance, rapidly carried the advanced posts, capturing 
two companies of a South Carolina regiment, and driving the 
remainder back on the main body at Lafayette. That night 
the armies went into camp at Taylor's Piidge, where Ship's 
Gap divides it. 

On the 17th, the Army of the Tennessee moved to Lafayette, 
while the other corps remained in camp at the Eidge. 

On the 18th, Howard crossed the Chattooga at Tryon's 
Factory, and encamped near Summerville. Stanley moved in 
the same direction, through Mattock's Gap, in Taylor's Ridge, 
crossed the river at Penn's Ford, and halted four miles be- 



HOOD'S INVASION. 249 

yond it. On tlie 19tli, the Army of tlie Tennessee reached 
Alpine, and the Army of the Cumberland, after a short march, 
encamped at Summerville, and, on the 20th, both these com- 
mands marched into Gaylesville ; while Cox, with the Twenty- 
third Corps and Garrard's division of cavalry, having moved 
by Yillanow, Dirt Town, and Gover's Gap, arrived on the same 
day. 

In the mean while, Thomas had disposed of his small forces 
so as to oppose the greatest resistance in his power to Hood's 
movement on Bridgeport and Chattanooga, both of which 
places were seriously menaced by the direction of his advance. 
Leaving Decatur, Huntsville, Stevenson, and the rest of 
Northern Alabama to the care of their ordinary garrisons, 
Thomas caused Eousseau to recall his mounted troops from 
the pursuit of Forrest and concentrate at Athens ; Croxton's 
brigade of cavalry to observe and protect the crossmgs of the 
Tennessee Eiver from Decatur to Eastport ; Morgan's division 
of Jefferson C. Davis' fourteenth corps to move by rail to 
Chattanooga, where, it will be remembered, Wagner abeady 
was with Newton's division of Stanley's fourth corps, and 
Steedman to follow Morgan to Bridgeport. On the 14th, 
Morgan reached his designated position, and Steedman's 
destination was also changed to Chattanooga. 

The Army of the Tennessee was now posted near Little 
Eiver, with orders to support the cavalry engaged in watching 
Hood ; the Army of the Ohio was at Cedar Bluff, with orders 
to lay a pontoon bridge across the Coosa, and feel towards 
Centre and Blue Mountains ; and the Army of the Cumberland 
was held in reserve at Gaylesville. In this position, in the 
heart of the rich valley of the Chattooga, in a country 
abounding with food, Sherman determined, while living upon 
the country, to pause in his pursuit of his erratic enemy, and 
giving him sufficient rope wherewith to entangle himself, to 
watch his movements. Communications were established 
with Eome, and a large force put to work, under Colonel W. 
W. Wright, chief engineer of the United States military rail- 
ways in this di\ision, in repairing the damages inflicted by 



250 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Hood upon the railway. Slocum at Atlanta was ordered to 
send out strong foraging parties, coUect all the corn and fod- 
der possible, and put liis trains in condition for service. As 
early as the 21st, telegraphic communication was restored be- 
tween Chattanooga and Atlanta, and by the 28th, although 
thirty-four miles of rails and ties had been destroyed, and 
several important bridges carried away by floods, trains be- 
gan running through on the railway. 

Hood had turned westward from Gadsden towards Decatur, 
and taken up a position threatening the Chattanooga and 
Atlanta railway, and at the same time menacing Tennes- 
see. His movements and strategy had conclusively de- 
monstrated that he had an army at all times capable of 
endangering Sherman's communications, but unable to meet 
and cope with him in battle. To foUow Hood indefinitely 
towards the west and north would, without much prospect 
of overtaking and overwhelming his army, be for Sherman 
equivalent to being decoyed out of Georgia. To remain 
on the defensive, on the other hand, would be to lose the 
main effectiveness of the great Army of the Centre. Sher- 
man had previously proposed to General Grant, in the early 
stages of the pursuit, to break up the railway from Chatta- 
nooga to Atlanta, and strike out for MiUedgeville, Millen, and 
Savannah, " Until we can repopulate Georgia," he wrote, " it 
is useless to occupy it ; but the utter destruction of its roads, 
houses, and people will cripple their mihtary resources. By 
attempting to hold the roads we wiU lose a thousand men 
monthly, and will gain no result. I can make the march, and 
make Georgia JioioV And again : " Hood may turn into Ten- 
nessee and Kentucky, but I believe he will be forced to follow 
me. Instead of being on the defensive I would be on the 
offensive. Instead of guessing at what he means, he would 
have to guess at my plans. The difference, in war is fuU 
twenty-five per cent. I can make Savannah, Charleston, 
or the mouth of the Chattahoochee. I prefer to march 
through Georgia, smashing things, to the sea." He now pro- 
posed to the lieutenant-general to modify these plans, so far 



HOOD'S INVASION. 251 

as to give liim the choice of either of the three alternatives 
just named. 

" I must have alternatives," he said ; "else being confined to 
one route the enemy might so oppose that delay and want 
would trouble me ; but having alternatives, I can take so 
eccentric a course that no general can guess at my objective. 
Therefore, when you hear I am oflf, have lookouts at Morris 
Island, S. C ; Ossabaw Sound, Georgia ; Pensacola and 
Mobile bays. I will turn up somewhere, and believe me I can 
take Macon, MiUedgeville, Augusta, and Savannah, Georgia, 
and wind up with closing the neck back of Charleston, so that 
they will starve out. This movement is not purely military 
or strategic, but it will illustrate the vulnerability of the 
South." 

General Grant promptly authorized the proposed move- 
ment, indicating, however, his preference for Savannah as the 
objective, and fixing Dalton as the northern hmit for the de- 
struction of the railway. Preparations were instantly under- 
taken and pressed forward for the consummation of these 
plans. 

On the 26th of October, Sherman detached the Fourth Corps 
under Major-General Stanley, and ordered him to proceed to 
Chattanooga and report to General Thomas at Nashville. On 
the 30tli of October, he also detached the Twenty-third Corps, 
Major-General Schofield, with the same destination, and dele- 
gated to Major-General Thomas full power over the troops, 
except the four corps with which he himself desig-ned to move 
into Georgia. This gave Thomas the two divisions of the 
Sixteenth Corps, under A. J. Smith, then in Missouri but 
on the way to Tennessee, the Fourth and Twenty-third 
corps, as just mentioned, and all the garrisons in Tennes- 
see, as well as all the cavalry of the Military Division, except 
the di\asion under Brigadier-General Kilpatrick, which was 
ordered to rendezvous at Marietta. Brevet Major-General 
Wilson had arrived from the Army of the Potomac to assume 
command of the cavalry of the Ai'my of the Centre, and he 
was sent back to Nashville with all dismoimted detachments, 



252 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and orders as rapidly as possible to collect tlie cavalry serving 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, to mount, organize, and equip 
them, and report to Major-General Thomas for duty. These 
forces, Sherman considered, would enable General Thomas to 
defend the railway from Chattanooga back, including Nash- 
ville and Decatur, and give him an army with which he could 
successfully cope with Hood, should the latter cross the Ten- 
nessee northward. The entire plan of the campaign was 
communicated to General Thomas, and he was instructed 
that, as an essential portion of it, he was expected to defend 
the hue of the Tennessee River, to hold Tennessee, in any 
event, and to pursue the enemy should Hood follow Sherman. 

On the 26th, the enemy appeared in some force before 
Decatur, but after skirmishing for three days withdrew. On 
the 31st, in spite of aU the efforts to the contrary of Croxton's 
brigade of cavalry, which, as has been seen, was engaged in 
guarding the river, the enemy succeeded in effecting a lodgment 
on the north bank of the Tennessee, about three miles above 
Florence. On the 28th November, Forrest, coming fi'om Cor- 
inth with seventeen regiments of cavah-y and nine pieces of 
artillery, having captured a gunboat and two transports, and 
burned a third at Fort Heiman, seventy-five miles fi*om Padu- 
cah, planted batteries above and below Johnsonville, and after 
cannonading that place for three days, during which our troops 
burned their transports and stores, withdrew and crossed the 
Tennessee just above the town. 

The same day Schoiield, with the Twenty-third Corps, 
reached NashviUe and was hurried on to Johnsonville ; and 
arriving there the night after Forrest's withdrawal, was sent 
on to join the Fourth Corps at Pulaski, leaving a garrison 
at Johnsonville. General Schofield was charged with the 
immediate direction of the operations of these two corps, with 
instructions to watch Hood's movements, and delay them 
as much as possible, without risking a general engagement, 
so as to allow time for A. J. Smith to arrive from Missouri 
and for Wilson to remount his cavalry. Thomas' effective 
force, at this moment, numbered twenty-two thousand infantry 



HOOD'S INVASION 253 

and seven thousand seven hundred cavalry, exclusive of the 
numerous detachments garrisoning Murfreesboro', Stevenson, 
Bridgeport, Huntsville, Decatur, and Chattanooga, and dis- 
tributed along the railways to guard them. With these he 
had to oppose Beauregard, wdth Hood's three corps and 
Forrest's, Wheeler's, and Koddy's cavalry, now grouped about 
Florence, threatening the invasion of Middle Tennessee. 

Meanwhile, Sherman, having completed his preparations, 
received his final instructions, and explained his plans in detail, 
under strict confidence, to his corps commanders and heads of 
staff departments, had changed front to the rear and was once 
more marching towards the south. 

During the campaign just closed, the army and the country 
were called upon to lament the death of the gallant commander 
of the Seventeenth Corps, Brigadier-General Thomas Edward 
Greenfield Kansom. He had been suffering at the outset fi'om 
the fatal dysentery which caused his death, but esteemmg it as 
merely a temporary malady, and unwilling to quit his post at 
such a time, he had remained in command, continuing to exert 
himseK day and night to the utmost of his power, until, on the 
20th, on arriving at Gaylesville, the aggravated nature of 
his symptoms compelled him to yield his inclinations and 
go to the rear. On the 29th of October, his end being 
evidently nigh at hand, he was taken fi*om the stretcher on 
which he was being carried to Kome, and borne into a house 
by the roadside, where shortly afterwards he breathed his 
last. 

Born in Norwich, Vermont, on the 29th of November, 1834, 
and graduating at Norwich University in his seventeenth year, 
he removed to Lasalle County, Ilhnois, in 1851, and entered 
upon the practice of his profession as civil engineer. In 1854, 
he embarked in the real estate business, at Peru, Illinois, in 
connection with an uncle, Mr. Gilson, and in December, 1855, 
joined the house of Galloway and Company, at Chicago, who 
were largely engaged in land operations. Wlien the rebellion 
broke out he was living in Fayette County, Illinois, acting as 
an agent of the Illinois Central Eailway Company. Imme- 



254 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

diately after the issue of the President's proclamation of April 
16, 1861, calling for seventy-five thousand three months' 
mihtia, Ransom raised a company, which was presently at- 
tached to the Eleventh Eegiment of HHnois Volunteers, where- 
of, by a vote of the company ofiicers, he was elected major, and 
duly commissioned accordingly by the governor of the State. 
On the reorganization of the regiment for the three years' 
service at the end of July, 1861, Ransom was made its lieuten- 
ant-colonel. On the 19th of August he was severely wounded 
in the shoulder, in a charge at Charleston, Missouri. He 
took part in the capture of Fort Henry, and led his regiment 
in the assault on Fort Donelson, where he was again severely 
wounded, and narrowly escaped death, his clothing being 
pierced by six buUet-holes, and his horse being shot under 
him. Though suffering from prolonged sickness, consequent 
upon his wound and continued exposure, he insisted on re- 
maining with his command, and being soon promoted to the 
position vacated by the appointment of Colonel W. H. L. 
"Wallace as a brigadier-general, led the regiment through the 
battle of Shiloh, though again wounded in the head in the 
early part of the engagement. In January, 1863, he was 
appointed a brigadier-general, dating from the 29th of No- 
vember previous, and as such commanded a brigade of 
Logan's division of McPherson's seventeenth corps during the 
siege of Yicksburg. Early in August his brigade was sent to 
occupy Natchez, and was soon afterwards transferred to the 
Thhteenth Corps, under Major-General Ord, when that corps 
was assigned to the Department of the Gulf, and he was placed 
in command of a division. He took part in the brief occupation 
of the Texas coast by General Banks in the winter of 1863, 
and in the ill-fated Red River expedition, being so severely 
wounded in the knee at the battle of Sabine Cross-roads, on 
the 8th of April, 1864, that the surgeons were divided in 
opinion on the question of amputation. General Ransom 
himself decided the dispute in favor of retaining the leg, and 
recovered, though suffering with a stiff knee, in time to join 



HOOD'S INVASION. 255 

Sherman and take command of a division of Blair's seven- 
teenth corps, just before the capture of Atlanta. 

By his talents, his patience, his courage, his aptness for 
command, he had rapidly mounted almost to the highest 
rewards of his profession, when death closed a career of honor 
apparently without other Hmit. Young, enthusiastic, and un- 
tiring, brave and skilful, in Ransom's death the Army of 
the Tennessee lost a jewel second only in lustre to that which 
fell from its diadem in the death of McPherson. 



256 SHERMAN AXD HIS CAJMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 

Sheemlo moved tlie Fifteenth and Seventeentli Corps by 
slow and easy marclies on the south of the Coosa back to 
the neighborhood of SmjTna camp-ground, and the Four- 
teenth Corps to Kingston, whither he repau^ed in person on 
the 2d of November, From that point he directed all sur- 
plus artillery, all baggage not needed for the contemplated 
march, all the sick and wounded, refugees and other encum- 
brances to be sent back to Chattanooga, and the three corps 
above-mentioned, as well as Kilpatrick's cavalry, and the 
Twentieth Corjis, then at Atlanta, to be put in the most efficient 
condition possible for the long and difficult march before them. 
This operation consumed the time until the lltli of Novem- 
ber, when, every thing being ready. General Corse, who still 
remained at Eome, was directed to destroy the bridges 
there, as well as all foundries, mills, shops, warehouses, and 
other property that could be useful to the enemy, and to 
move to Kingston. At the same time the railway in and 
about Atlanta, and between the Etowah and the Chatta- 
hoochee, was ordered to be utterly destroyed. General 
Steedman was also instructed to gather up the garrisons from 
Kingston northward, and to draw back to Chattanooga, tak- 
ing with him all pubhc property and all railway stock, and 
to take up the rails from Resaca back, preser-sdng them, that 
they might be replaced whenever future interests should de- 
mand it. The railway between the Etowah and the Oostanaula 
was left untouched, in view of General Grant's instructions, 
and because Sherman thought it more than probable that 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 257 

General Thomas would find it necessary to reoccupy the 
country as far forward as the line of the Etowah, which, by 
reason of its rivers and other natural features, possesses an 
enduring military importance, since fi-om it all parts of Georgia 
and Alabama can be reached by armies marching down the 
valleys of the Coosa and Chattahoochee. 

On the lltli of November, Sherman sent his last dispatch 
to General Halleck, at Washington, and, on the 12th, his army 
stood detached and cut off from all communication with the 
rear. 

For the purpose of the great march, it had been divided into 
two wings : the right, commanded by Major-General Ohver O. 
Howard, comprising the Fifteenth Corps, under Major-Gen- 
eral P. J. Osterhaus, and the Seventeenth Corps, under Major- 
General Frank P. Blair, Jr., who had now rejoined the army ; the 
left, under Major-General Henry W. Slocum, consisting of the 
Fourteenth Corps of brevet Major-General Jefferson C. Davis, 
and the Twentieth Corps, to which Brigadier-General A. S. 
"Williams was assigned. The aggregate force of infantry was 
sixty thousand; the cavalry division, under Brigadier-General 
Judson Kilpatrick, numbered fifty-five hundred men ; and 
there was one field-gun to every thousand men. 

The Fifteenth Corps consisted of the divisions of Brigadier- 
Generals Charles R. Woods, Wilham B. Hazen, John E. 
Smith, and John M. Corse. Hazen's second division, though 
greatly changed in aU its parts by time and hard service, was 
substantially the same division which Sherman organized at 
Paducah and commanded at Shiloh, and whose history we 
have followed in these pages, successively under the leadership 
of David Stuart, Morgan L. Smith, and Blair. 

The Seventeenth Corps comprised three divisions, under 
Major-General John A. Mower and Brigadier-Generals Miles 
D. Leggett and Giles A. Smith, besides the detachments above 
mentioned. 

The Fourteenth Corps was composed of three divisions, led 
by Brigadier-Generals William P. Carhn, James D. Morgan, 
and Absalom Baird. 

17 



258 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

The Twentieth Corps, which it will be remembered was 
formed by consoKdating the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps fi'om 
the Army of the Potomac, included the divisions of Brigadier- 
Generals Norman J. Jackson, John W. Geary, and William T. 
Ward. 

Kilpatrick's division of cavalry consisted of two brigades, 
commanded by Colonels Eh H. Murray, Third Kentucky 
Cavalry, and Smith D. Atkins, Ninety-second Ilhnois Mounted 
Infantry. 

This whole force moved rapidly, and on the 14th of Novem- 
ber was once more grouped about Atlanta. 

Here let us pause to glance at such of the more prominent 
actors in the approaching scenes, as we have not ah-eady 
sketched. 

OHver O. Howard was born in Leeds, in Kennebec County, 
Maine, on the 8th of November, 1830, the eldest of three chil- 
dren of parents in independent but moderate circumstances. 
He worked on his father's farm until his tenth year, when his 
father died, leaving him to the care of his uncle, the Honor- 
able John Otis, of Hallowell. He enjoyed the advantages of a 
good common-school education until, at the age of sixteen, he 
entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine. Upon finish- 
ing the collegiate course, after some hesitation he decided to 
avail himself of the opportunity just then offered of comple- 
ting his education at the United States Military Academy at 
W^est Point. He accordingly entered that institution in 1850, 
and gi-aduated in 1851, ranking fourth in the order of general 
standing of his class. He was appointed brevet second lieu- 
tenant in the Ordnance Department, and two years later 
served in a campaign against the Indians in Florida, as chief 
ordnance officer of the department. The 1st of July, 1855, by 
regular promotion, he became second lieutenant and on the 1st 
July, 1857, first lieutenant of ordnance, and held the latter 
rank at the opening of the war, when he was stationed at West 
Point as assistant professor of mathematics. At an early date 
his services were offered to the governor of Maine, who, on 
the 28th of May, 1861, commissioned him as colonel of the 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 259 

Third Maine Volunteers, the first three years' regiment that 
left the State. 

At the battle of Bull Eun he commanded a brigade as senior 
colonel, and on the 3d of September, 1861, was commissioned 
brigadier-general of volunteers, and was soon afterwards as- 
signed to the command of a brigade of Sumner's division of 
the Army of the Potomac, which, in March, 1862, became a 
part of Sumner's second army corps, Brigadier-General Israel 
B. Kichardson succeeding to the command of the division. 
General Howard was with the Army of the Potomac on the 
Peninsula until the battle of Fair Oaks, where he lost his right 
arm while leading his brigade in a charge against the enemy. 
Two bullets entered the arm, one near the wrist and the other 
at the elbow ; but he did not leave the field until, on being 
wounded the second time, his strength gave out, and he was 
obliged to go to the rear, and submit to an amputation. After 
an absence of two months, he returned to the army in season 
to be with his corps at the second battle of Bull Kun, and on 
the retreat from Centreville he commanded the rear-guard. 
At the battle of Antietam, when General Sedgwick was 
wounded, and comj^elled to quit the field, General Howard 
succeeded him in command of his division of Sumner's corps. 

At the battle of Fredericksburg this division formed the 
right of the line, and lost heavily. 

On the 29th November, 1862, he was appointed major-gen- 
eral of volunteers, and on the 1st April, 1863, took command 
of the Eleventh Ai-my Corps, reUeving General Sigel. He led 
his corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He took a gal- 
lant part in the capture of Lookout Mountain and the battle 
of Mission Ridge, and accompanied Sherman in his march to 
the relief of Burnside at KnosviUe. His services in the At- 
lanta campaign, in command of the Fourth Army Corps, and, 
after McPherson's death, at the head of the Ai-my of the Ten- 
nessee, have already been fully illustrated in these pages. 

Thoroughly educated, an accomphshed scholar, a true gen- 
tleman, and a brave soldier, General Howard is eminently cal- 
culated to inspire the confidence of his superiors, the respect 



260 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and obedience of his followers, the affection and esteem of all 
with whom he may be associated. Quiet and unassuming in 
his deportment ; a fervent and devoted Christian, not only in 
his behef but in his daily hfe ; conscientious to a degree in the 
performance of the smallest duty ; careless of exposing his 
person in battle, to an extent that would be attributable to 
rashness or fatalism if it were not known to spring from re- 
Hgion ; strictly honorable in all things ; warm in his sympa- 
pathies and cordial in his fi-iendships, Howard presents a rare 
combination of qualities, no less grand than simple, equally to 
be imitated for then- virtue and loved for their humanity. 

Judson Kilpatrick was born in New Jersey, in 1838. In 
June, 1856, as a reward for his pohtical services in the support 
of the re-election of the member of Congress from the district 
wherein he resided, he was selected by that gentleman to rep- 
resent the district at West Point. In April, 186] , he gradu- 
ated fifteenth in his class, and was immediately apj)ointed a 
second-heutenant in the First Regiment of Artillery, but soon 
afterwards received permission from the War Department to 
accept a captaincy in the Fifth Regiment of New York Vol- 
unteers, generally known as Duryea's Zouaves, and served 
with that regiment in the skirmish or battle, in June, at Big 
Bethel, where he was slightly wounded. 

In the fall, Kilpatrick succeeded in obtaining a commission 
as heutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment of New York Cav- 
alry, or " Harris Light Cavalry," commanded by Colonel J. 
Mansfield Davies. Participating in command of that regiment, 
and afterwards at the head of a brigade of Gregg's division, in 
nearly all the principal operations of the cavah-y of the Army 
of the Potomac, under Generals McClellan, Burnside, and 
Hooker, in May, 1863, he was promoted to be a brigadier- 
general for gallant and distinguished services in the battle of 
Brandy Station, and was soon afterwards, on the appointment 
of General Meade to reheve Hooker, placed in command of 
Stahl's division, which, with the divisions of Buford and 
Gregg, now constituted Pleasonton's cavalry corps. This 
command he continued to hold until, on the failure of the ill- 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 261 

considered raid for the relief of the Union prisoners at Rich- 
mond, wherein he and the brave young Dahlgren were jointly 
engaged, he was relieved and ordered to report to General 
Sherman, who readily discovered in Kilpatrick those sterling 
quahties which, though marred and partially concealed by an 
extravagant craving for admiration and a ceaseless straining 
after dramatic effect, nevertheless constituted him, when his 
judgment was properly strengthened and developed by contact 
with a master mind, and his love of daily popularity strongly 
restrained by a master will, a valuable and deserving cavaby 
commander. 

Frank P. Blair, Jr., the sou of Francis P. Blair, Sr., of 
Montgomery County, Maryland, was born in Lexington, Ken- 
tucky, on the 19th of February, 1821. After completing his 
education at Princeton College, he apphed liimseK to the study 
of the law in his native town, and after being admitted to the 
bar, removed to St. Louis, and commenced practice in 1843. 
He served in Mexico, during the war with that country in 
1846-47, as a heutenant of volunteers, and returned to St. 
Louis after the peace, resumed the practice of his profession, 
and entered into poHtics with the activity characteristic of his 
family, supporting Mr, Van Buren for the Presidency in 1848, 
on the Buffalo platform. Becoming fi'om that time identified 
with the free-soil party, opposed to the extension of slavery 
into the territories, he was elected to the Legislature of Mis- 
souri in 1852, as a delegate fi'om St. Louis, and re-elected in 
1854. At the expiration of his second term, in 1856, as the 
candidate of the Republican party, he was chosen representa- 
tive in Congress from the St. Louis district, and has been suc- 
cessively re-elected as such in the years 1858, 1860, and 1862. 

From the spring of 1861 until he left his seat in Congress, 
he was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in the 
House of Representatives. 

On the breaking out of the rebellion, he raised the First 
Infantry Regiment of Missouri Volunteers, and on the 7th of 
August, having in the mean time attended the special session 
of Congress in his civil capacity, and immediately afterwards 



262 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

returned to Missouri and raised a brigade, he was appointed 
by the President a brigadier-general of vokmteers. On the 
29th of November, 1862, he was promoted to be a major- 
general. 

General Blaii-'s military record while in command of a bri- 
gade at Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post ; of Sherman's 
old division of the Fifteenth Corps in the siege of Vicksburg and 
the capture of Jackson ; of the Fifteenth Corps in its marches 
from luka to Chattanooga, and thence to Kuoxville, and the 
battle of Missionary Ridge ; and of the Seventeenth Corps 
in the Atlanta campaign, we have already followed, step by 
step. 

When the Ai-my of the Tennessee went into winter-quarters 
at Huntsville, in 1863, General Blair, at the personal request 
of President Lincoln, returned to Washington, and resumed 
his place in Congress. At the reopening of active operations 
lie hastened back to the army, and was assigned the command 
of the ScA^enteenth Army Corps, in place of General McPher- 
son, who had succeeded General Sherman at the head of the 
Army of the Tennessee. 

Peter Joseph Osterhaus was a native of Prussia, and held a 
commission in the Prussian army, but afterwards emigrated 
to the United States, and took up his residence at St. Louis, 
in Missouri. During the wdnter of 1860, in anticipation of 
the war, he organized and commanded a company of miUtia, 
and subsequently took part with it in the capture of the seces- 
sion camp near the city by General Lyon, in May, 1861. His 
company being mustered into the service of the United States, 
on the 17th of July, 1861, he took part, under General Lyon, 
in the battle of Booneville ; on the 2d of August fought at 
Dug Springs, in Southwestern Missouri, and on the 10th of the 
same month was engaged in the battle of Wilson's Creek, 
during which Lyon was killed. He was then promoted to be 
colonel of the Twelfth Missouri Volunteers, and at the head 
of that regiment took part in the brief campaign under Fre- 
mont. At the battle of Pea Eidge, on the 7th and 8th of 
March, 1862, Colonel Osterhaus commanded with abihty the 





C. BKicliardGo a . i^r'^'T 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 263 

first brigade of General Sigel's division, and was wounded and 
compelled to leave the field. He, however, soon rejoined his 
regiment and took part in the arduous march of General 
Curtis' troops through Arkansas to Helena, where the forces 
arrived in July, 1862. On the 9th of June, 1862, he was pro- 
moted to be a brigadier-general of volunteers, and in that 
capacity took part, as we have already seen, in command 
of a brigade, in Sherman's attempt on Vicksburg, in December, 
1862, at the head of a division of the Thii-teeuth Army Corps, 
in the capture of Arkansas Post, the siege of Yicksburg, where 
he was agam wounded, and subsequently in Sherman's cap- 
ture of the town of Jackson. From that time, as the com- 
mander of the first division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, his 
history has been fully traced in these pages. It may be said 
of General Osterhaus, that no officer of foreign birth and edu- 
cation so successfully exercised, during the late war, com- 
mands of equal estent and responsibility. 

Henry Wadsworth Slocum was born in Syracuse, in Onon- 
daga County, in the State of New York. Entering the Mili- 
tary Academy at West Point as a cadet in June, 1848, he 
graduated four years later, seventh in the general standing 
of his class, and on the 1st of July, 1852, was commissioned 
a brevet second-lieutenant and attached to the First Regi- 
ment of Artillery. In the following year he attained, by 
regular promotion, to a full second-lieutenancy in the same 
regiment, and in March, 1855, became a first-Heutenant. On 
the 31st of October, 1856, he resigned his commission in the 
army, settled in his native place, and embarked in the prac- 
tice of the law as a profession, at the same time taking an 
active part in poHtical affairs. His resignation was accepted 
in the height of the excitement attending the contest of 1856 
between Buchanan and Breckinridge and Fremont and Day- 
ton, as opposing candidates for the Presidency and Vice- 
Presidency of the United States. Slocum became a warm 
supporter of the principles and nominees of the Eepublican 
party, then just organized, and continued fi'om that time to 
act with it. 



264 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

On the outbreak of the war, Slocum appHed for a commis- 
sion as captain of artillery in the regular army, that being the 
highest grade for which, as he then considered, his experience 
qualified him ; but failing to receive the appointment, he 
shortly afterwards yielded to the current of events, and ac- 
cepted the colonelcy of the Twenty-seventh Kegiment of Ncav 
York Volunteers, raised in Onondaga County. This regiment 
was among the first troops sent fi'om the State for three 
years, or during the war. At the battle of Bull Eun it formed 
a part of Franklin's brigade of Hunter's division, and did 
good service. In the organization of the Army of the Poto- 
mac, in the fall of 1861, by General McClellan, Franklin re- 
ceived the command of a division on the left of the line, in 
front of Alexandria, and Colonel Slocum, being promoted to 
be a brigadier-general of volunteers, succeeded to the com- 
mand of Franklin's brigade. In March, 1862, when the army 
was divided into army corps, Franklin's division became a part 
of McDowell's first corps, and remained with it on the lines of 
the Potomac and the Rappahannock, but in April was sent to 
join the main army before Yorktown. 

Arriving there just before the conclusion of the siege. Gen- 
eral Franklin Avas presently placed by General McClellan in 
command of the Sixth Provisional Ai'my Corps, afterwards 
regularly constituted the Sixth Army Corps, consisting of W. 
F. Smith's division detached from Keyes' fourth corps and 
of Franklin's own, to the command of which Slocum succeeded. 
The division took part on the Peninsula in the battles of West 
Point, Goldings' Farm, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, White 
Oak Swamp, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. For his services in 
this campaign Slocum was promoted to be a major-general 
fi'om the 4th of July, 1862. In the Maryland campaign, in the 
fall of the same year, Slocum led the division with great dis- 
tinction in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. 
After the latter he was selected, in consideration of the high 
qualities he had displayed, for the command of the Twelfth 
Army Corps, made vacant by the fall of General Mansfield, 
and continued to command it with abihty and gallantry 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 265 

tlirouglioiit the campaigns of Buruside, Hooker, aud Meade 
of 1862 aud 1863, including the three great battles of Fred- 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. At Chancellors- 
\dlle, Slocum, by his bold and rapid change of front, saved the 
army from the disastrous consequences that might have fol- 
lowed the rout of the Eleventh Corps. In the fall of 1863, 
when the Eleventh and Twelfth corps, united under Hooker, 
were sent to Nashville to re-enforce Thomas' army at Chat- 
tanooga, General Slocum, preferring not to serve again under 
General Hooker, was, at his own request, relieved from com- 
mand of the corps and ordered to Yicksburg. Here he fell 
under the keen eye and appreciating judgment of General 
Sherman, and was wisely selected by him for the command of 
the Twentieth Corps, when Hooker, mdignant in his turn at 
the promotion of Howard, quitted the Army of the Cumber- 
land.^^ 

On the 9th of November, at Kingston, Sherman issued the 
follo\\ang orders for the government of his subordinate com- 
manders : — 

" I. The habitual order of march will be, whenever practi- 
cable, by four roads, as nearly parallel as possible, and con- 
verging at points hereafter to be indicated in orders. The 
cavalry, Brigadier-General Kilpatrick commanding, will re- 
ceive special orders from the commander-in-chief. 

" II. There will be no general trains of supplies, but each 
corps will have its ammunition and pro"sasion train, distributed 
habitually as follows : Behind each regiment should follow one 
wagon and one ambulance ; behind each brigade should fol- 
low a due proportion of ammunition wagons, provision wagons, 
and ambulances. In case of danger, each army corps com- 
mander should change this order of march by having his 
advance and rear brigade unencumbered by wheels. The 
separate columns will start habitually at seven A. M., and 



* General Slocum, Laving been nominated by the Democratic party of New 
York for Secretary of State, resigned his commission in the army. 



2G6 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

make about fifteen miles per day, unless otherwise fixed in 
orders. 

" III. The army will forage liberally on the country during 
the march. To this end, each brigade commander will organ- 
ize a good and sufiicient foraging party, under the command 
of one or more discreet ofiicers, who will gather near the route 
travelled corn or forage of any kind, meat of any kind, vege- 
tables, corn-meat, or whatever is needed by the command ; 
aiming at all times to keep in the wagon trains at least ten 
days' provisions for the command and three days' forage. 
Soldiers must not enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, or 
commit any trespass : during the halt or at camp they may 
be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes, and other vegetables, 
and drive in stock in fi'ont of their camps. To regular for- 
aging parties must be intrusted the gathering of provisions 
and forage at any distance fi'om the road travelled. 

"V. To army commanders is intrusted the power to destroy 
mills, houses, cotton-gins, etc., and for them this general prin- 
ciple is laid down : In districts and neighborhoods where the 
army is unmolested, no destruction of such property should 
be permitted ; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest 
our march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct 
roads, or otherwise manifest local liostiHty, then army corps 
commanders should order and enforce a devastation more or 
less relentless according to the measure of such hostility. 

" YI. As for horses, mules, wagons, etc., belonging to the 
inhabitants, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate fi'eely 
and without hmit, discriminating, however, between the rich, 
who are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious, usually 
neutral or friendly. Foraging parties may also take mules or 
horses to replace the jaded animals of their trains, or to serve 
as pack-mules for the regiments or brigades. In all foraging, 
of whatever kind, the parties engaged will refrain from abusive 
or threatening language, and may, when the officer in com- 
mand thinks proper, give written certificates of the facts, but 
no receipts ; and they will endeavor to leave with each family 
a reasonable portion for their maintenance. 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. OQl 

" VII. Negroes who are able-bodied, and can be of service 
to the several columns, may be taken along ; but each army 
commander will bear in mind that the question of supphes is 
a very important one, and that his first duty is to see to thos9 
who bear arms. 

" VIII. The organization at once of a good pioneer battal- 
ion for each corps, composed, if possible, of negroes, should 
be attended to. This battalion should follow the advance 
guard, should repair roads, and double them if possible, so 
that the columns will not be delayed after reaching bad places. 
Also, army commanders should study the habit of giving the 
artillery and wagons the road, and marching theu' troops on 
one side ; and also instruct their troops to assist wagons at 
steep hills or bad crossings of streams. 

" IX. Captain O. M. Poe, cliief enguieer, will assign to each 
wing of the army a pontoon-train, fully equipped and organ- 
ized, and the commanders thereof will see to its being properly 
protected at aU times." . 

Captain Poe had thoroughly destroyed Atlanta, save its 
mere dwelling-houses and churches ; General Corse had done 
the same with regard to Home ; and the right "wdng, with 
General Kilpatrick's cavalry, was put in motion in the direc- 
tion of Jonesboro' and McDonough, with orders to make a 
strong feint on Macon, to cross the Ocmulgee about Planters' 
Mills, and rendezvous in the neighborhood of Gordon in seven 
days, exclusive of the day of march. On the same day. Gen- 
eral Slocum was to move with Williams' twentieth corps 
by Decatur and Stone Mountain, -wdth orders to tear up the 
raikoad fi"om Social Cu'cle to Madison, to burn the large and 
important railway bridge across the Oconee, east of Madison, 
and turn south and reach MiUedgevOle on the seventh day, ex- 
clusive of the day of march. Sherman in j)erson left Atlanta 
on the 16th, in company with Jefferson C. Davis' fourteenth 
corps, marching by Lithonia, Covington, and Shady Dale, 
directly on MilledgeviUe. All the troops were provided with 
good wagon-trains, loaded with ammunition, and supplies 



268 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

approximating forty days' bread, sugar, aud coffee, a double al- 
lowance of salt for the same period, and beef-cattle equal to 
forty days' supplies. The wagons were also supplied with 
about three days' forage in grain. All the commanders were 
instructed, by a judicious system of foraging, to maintain this 
order of things as long as possible, living chiefly, if not solely, 
upon the country, which was known to abound in corn, sweet 
potatoes, and meats. The first object was, of course, to place 
the army in the very heart of Georgia, interposing between 
Macon and Augusta, and obKging the enemy to divide his 
forces, in order to defend not only those points, but also 
Millen, Savannah, and Charleston. 

Howard, with the right ^dng, marched from Whitehall on 
the 15th of November, dividing his army into two columns. 
The right-hand column, consisting of Osterhaus' fifteenth 
corps. General Howard's headquarters train, and the cattle- 
herds, marched by Rough and Heady, turning to the left 
towards McDonough when about five miles from Jonesboro'. 
The left-hand column, comprising Blaii"'s seventeenth corps, 
the bridge train, and First Missouri Engineer Eegiment, 
Kilpatrick's supply train and the First Alabama Cavalry 
leading the advance, marched on McDonough by the direct 
road. Kilpatrick, who accompanied the right wing during 
this stage of the campaign, met the enemy's cavalry skirmishers 
near East Point, and drove them before him to the crossing of 
Fhnt Kiver ; and Osterhaus also met them near Rough and 
Ready, and again near Stockbridge. 

On the 16th, Howard marched to the "\acinity of McDonough 
by three routes. At the crossing of the Cotton River, Oster- 
haus once more met the enemy's cavalry, who retreated 
rapidly, setting fire to the bridge. Some mounted infantry in 
advance drove them off in time to put out the fire, and save 
every thing but the planking, and the bridge was immediately 
repaired, having detained the column but forty minutes. Kil- 
patrick crossed the FHnt River at the bridge near Jonesboro', 
at 7 A. M. Finding the enemy had left that place, he followed 
them to Lovejoy's, where they occupied a strong position. 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 269 

having two brigades of cavalry and two pieces of artillery, 
and holding the old rebel works. Dismounting Murray's 
brigade, Kilpatrick charged the works, and carried them, 
driving back the enemy, whose artillery was subsequently 
overtaken by Atkins' brigade, charged, and captured. Kil- 
patrick drove the enemy beyond Bear Station, capturing over 
fifty prisoners, and then moved to the left, and encamped on 
the Griffin and McDonough road. 

On the 17tli the right wing moved to Jackson and its 
vicinity in three columns, Osterhaus encamping near Indian 
Springs, Blair at Hendi'ick's Mill, and Kilpatrick at TowaHgo 
Creek. Some cavalry of the enemy crossed the creek, burning 
the bridges. 

The nearest division was pushed to Hatting's or Planters' 
Factory, on the Ocmulgee River, early next morning, and 
a part of it crossed over by the ferry. The bridge-train 
arrived at about 10 a. m., was laid, and the troops commenced 
crossing at 1 p. m. During that day and night, Blair's seven- 
teenth corps, John E. Smith's division of the Fifteenth Corps, 
and all the cavalry had crossed. The hill on the east side 
was steep, and the heavy rain durmg the night rendered the 
the ascent extremely difficult. 

On the morning of the 19th, regiments were detailed in 
each division to assist the trains in getting up the hill. Oster- 
haus, with the Fifteenth Corps, following the cavalry, took 
country roads to Hillsborough. Blair, wdth the Seventeenth 
Corps, moved in the vicinity of Hillsborough, by way of 
Monticello. The roads now becoming very heavy, the pro- 
gress was slow. The two bridges at the point of crossing 
were filled with troops and trains all day, yet the crossing 
was not completed by the rear-guard until the foUowing 
morning. 

On the 20th, the right wing moved on Gordon in two 
columns, Kilpatrick, with his cavalry, taking the Chnton 
road and the river road towards Macon, Osterhaus moving 
towards Chnton, and Blau- by way of Blounts^iUe. The head 
of the right column encamped at Clinton, and the left near 



270 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Fortville. Kilpatrick waited at Clinton until tlie arrival of tlie 
head of the infantry column at 12 m., when he moved out 
towards Macon, on the left-hand road met the enemy's 
cavalry about four miles fi'om Macon, drove them in, and 
charged their works, defended by infantry and artillery. The 
head of his column got inside the works, but could not Bold 
them. He succeeded in reaching the railway, and destroyed 
about one mile of the track. The road was struck in two or 
three other places by the cavalry, and a train of cars burned. 
It rained hard during the entire night. 

On the 21st, the cavalry took up an advance position cover- 
ing all the roads debouching from Macon. Blair continued his 
march du-ect on Gordon, reaching that place with his leading 
division. Osterhaus' column was subdivided ; two divisions, 
with small trains, taking the road towards Irwdnton, and the 
rest, with headquarters, bridge-train, and cattle, the direct 
Gordon road. The centre and left column met at a point six 
miles fi'om Gordon, called Pitt's MiU, where the centre took a 
parallel road into Gordon. The division of General Giles A. 
Smith reached Gordon the same day. 

On the 22d the troops and trains were closed up towards 
Gordon, excepting "Woods' di-sdsion of the Fifteenth Corps, 
which was directed to take up a strong position on the Irwin- 
ton road, and demonstrate towards Macon. The demonstra- 
tion was made by General Walcott's brigade, in conjunction 
T\dth the cavalry on the different roads. The rebel cavalry, in 
force, made a charge early in the morning, capturing one of 
our cavahy picket-posts. After a sharp engagement the enemy 
were driven from the field in confusion, Walcott's infantry do- 
ployed as skirmishers taking part in the repulse. In the after- 
noon, Walcott had taken up a position two miles in advance 
of his division, towards Macon, having two pieces of artillery, 
and had thrown up rail barricades, when he was attacked by 
a large body of infantry, accompanied by a battery of four 
guns. The assault w^s made with great vigor, but was met 
and completely repulsed. The action continued for some three 
hours. Walcott was assisted by a regiment of cavalry on 



THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 271 

either flank. General Woods was present during tlie action, 
and General Osterhaus part of tlie time. In this affair, Gen- 
eral Walcott was wounded. On arriving at Gordon, General 
Howard directed General Blair to send forward the First Ala- 
bama Cavaby and Giles A. Smith's division eight or ten miles 
towards the Oconee bridge, with instructions to move forward 
at once, and, if possible, to secure that bridge and plank it 
over for infantry to cross. Corse's fourth division of the Fif- 
teenth Corps, with the bridge-train, having found the roads 
almost impassable, did not reach the vicinity of CKnton until 
night. 

On the morning of the 23d, the right wing was in and near 
Gordon, Woods' and Corse's divisions of the Fifteenth Corps 
occupying that place, Hazen's division of the Fifteenth Corps 
marching on Irwinton, and Blair moving along the Macon and 
Savannah railway, engaged in destroying it. 

Let us now turn to the left wing under Slocum and follow 
its movements down to the same period. 

Williams' twentieth corps marched out of Atlanta on the 
morning of the 15th of November, on the Decatur road, and 
encamped that night near the Augusta railway, south of Stone 
Mountain. On the 16th it marched to Kock Bridge, on the 17th 
to Cornish Creek, and on the 18th to within three miles of Madi- 
son. There Geary's division was detached and sent, wdthout 
wagons or baggage, to destroy the Georgia Central railway 
bridge over the Oconee ; while Jackson's and Ward's divisions, 
with the trains, taking the MiHedgeviEe road, moved the same 
day to a point four miles beyond Madison, on the 20tli to Eaton- 
ton, and on the 21st to Little Eiver, a branch of the Oconee. 
There Geary rejoined the corps, which on the 22d crossed 
Little Eiver on a pontoon bridge and moved forward to the 
suburbs of Milledge\ille, Jackson's and Geary's divisions en- 
camping on the east and Ward's on the left bank of the Oconee, 
near the bridge on the Augusta road ; while the Third Wis- 
consin and One Hundred and Seventh New York regiments, 
under Colonel Hawley, were placed in the town as a garrison. 

Jefferson C. Davis' fourteenth army corps moved from At- 



272 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

lanta on the morning of the IGth of November, by Decatur, on 
Covington, and by night had marched fifteen miles. On the 
17th this corps marched to the west bank of the Yellow Eiver ; 
crossed that stream on the 18th, on two pontoon bridges, and 
passing through Covington took the road leading to Milledge- 
ville, by way of Shady Dale, and encamped on the west side 
of the Ulcofauhatchee River ; on the 19th crossed and marched 
to Shady Dale, on the 20th reached Eatonton Factories ; on 
the 21st deflected to the right, in order to avoid coming in con- 
tact with the Twentieth CorjDs on the main MilledgeviQe road, 
and moved with difficulty, owing to a heavy rain, to cross 
Murder Creek ; reached Cedar Creek on the next day ; and on 
the 23d went into camp in the vicinity of Milledgeville. 

During the movement of both wrings the railway had been 
effectually destroyed wherever the hne of march touched or 
approached it. The Georgia Central line was broken up fi'om 
Lithonia to Yellow River, a distance of fifteen miles, for seven- 
teen miles between Social Circle and Madison, and at several 
points between the last-named town and the Oconee ; the 
Atlanta and Macon line at various places above Lovejoy's, 
and the road from Macon to the east between that city and 
Gordon. 

Sherman himself had thus far accompanied the Fourteenth 
Corps. He now ordered Howard to move eastward fi'om Gor- 
don, destrojdng the railway line leading to Millen as far as 
TenniUe Station, and Slocum to march by two roads on San- 
dersville, four miles north of TenniUe ; while Kilpatrick should 
move fi'om Gordon to Milledgeville, thence rapidly towards the 
east, break up the railway between Millen and Augusta, and 
then turn upon Millen and rescue the Union prisoners there 
confined under torture. 



ri-fpaved hy 

BrA-t.BTisi Gen . 031 Poc 

CliJf/' £iiift>itrr 
^.) _E,ii/r(iretl Ar S/inniitii mid His Owifjnii)ii.v ■ 
l.i'Aiiii} Cdi/js 




THE COLORS POINT TO THE SOUTH. 273 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE LOST AEMY. 

DuKiNG tliis marcli the commander-in-cliief made Ms head- 
quarters with the Twentieth Corps. 

On the 24th of November, the right wing marched from 
Gordon in two coKimns, Osterhaus' fifteenth corps by way 
of Irwinton to Ball's Ferry, and Blair's seventeenth corps 
along the railway, with instructions to cross the Oconee at 
Jackson's Ferry, two and a half miles north of the railway 
bridge. General Giles A. Smith, who had preceded his column 
with the First Alabama Cavaby, drove quite a force of the 
enemy from two stockades and across the bridge, and found 
that Jackson's Ferry was an old abandoned route through the 
swamp, completely impracticable. General Howard therefore 
directed Blair's corps to move to Ball's Ferry, where the two 
heads of column arrived about the same time on the 25th last. 
A detachm.ent of the First Alabama had the day before recon- 
noitred the ferry, finding a small force of the enemy, made a 
raft, crossed the river, and drove the enemy back, but were, 
subsequently, themselves forced to recross the river with some 
loss. On arriving at the river the enemy was found in- 
trenched behind barricades, with an extended hue of skirmish- 
ers. Osterhaus and Blair confronted them with a line which 
extended beyond the enemy's flanks both up and down the 
river; the former placed artillery in position and made a 
demonstration on the fi-ont, along the road, while the latter 
sent a detachment some two mUes up the river to cross in 
boats, but the current being too swift for ro"«dng, the boats 
were finally swung over, after the fashion of a flying ferry. 

18 



274 SHEEMAN AND fflS CAMPAIGNS. 

A.fter working tlirougli tlie bayous and swamps till near morn- 
ing the detacliment reached the road in the rear of the enemy's 
position ; bnt the enemy had retreated. The Oconee at this 
place is narrow, but the current is very swift, and there are 
some two miles of swampy ground on the right bank. The 
immediate approach to the ferry on the left bank is, however, 
very good. The bridges were laid so that the troops com- 
menced crossing in two columns about noon, and by nighfc 
Corse's and Woods' divisions reach Irwin's Cross-roads, about 
ten miles east of the ferry, and the remainder of the Fifteenth 
Corps crossed on the 26th, during which day the Seventeenth 
Corps took up a position near the fork of the road leading to 
Station No. 14, and General Blair detached a division to de- 
stroy the railway from the Oconee to a point north of Irwin's 
Cross-roads, and General Osterhaus caused the destruction 
to be continued thence as far east as Station No, 13. 

Slocum marched from Milledgeville on the 24th, the 
Fourteenth Corps taking the right, by Black Spring, Fair 
Play, and Long's Bridge, and the Twentieth Corps the more 
direct road by Hebron ; and both corps entered Sandersville 
by parallel roads, almost simultaneously, on the morning of 
the 26th. The advanced guard of Wheeler's cavahy was en- 
countered near the town, and skirmished with, but offered no 
serious ojoposition. 

The two wings being now abreast of each other, Genera] 
Slocum was ordered to tear up and destroy the Georgia Cen- 
tral Kailroad, fi-om TeuniUe Station, No. 13, to Station No. 10, 
near the crossing of Ogeechee ; one of his corps svibstantially 
following the railway, the other the more circuitous route to 
the left by Louisville, in support of Kilpatrick's cavalry. 

Sherman himself now changed his headquarters to the 
right wing, and accompanied Blair's seventeenth corps on 
the south of the railway, till abreast of Barton Station, or No. 
91 ; General Howard, in person, ^dth the Fifteenth Corps, 
keeping further to the right, and about one day's march 
ahead, ready to turn against the flank of any enemy who 
should oppose his progress. 



THE LOST ARMY. 275 

On tlie 27tli, Osterliaus' corps was divided into two col- 
umns. The left, consisting of Woods' and Corse's divisions, 
marched from Irwin's Cross-roads, by the Louisville road, to 
its intersection with the road leading from Sandersville to 
Johnson, and thence to the latter place. The right, consisting 
of Hazen's and John E. Smith's divisions, was to follow the 
next morning, by plantation roads, to Johnson. 

On the 28tli the right column of the Fifteenth Corps en- 
camped at Wrightsville, the left column at EiddleviUe, Blair 
inarched with the Seventeenth Corps from Irwin's, on the 
Louisville road, and turning into cross-roads on the Sanders- 
viUe and Savannah road, at the intersection, encamped abreast 
of RiddleviUe. 

On the 29th the two lower columns nearly formed a junction ; 
the advance, under General Woods, encamping near Summer- 
ville, and the rest along the lower Savannah road and near Sun- 
derland's Mill, about Sebastopol, or seven miles to the rear of 
General Woods. The Seventeenth Corps encamped on the 
upper Savannah road, abreast of Station No. 10, on the Geor- 
gia Central railway. The country was covered with open 
pine woods and wire-grass. Numerous swamps were found 
along the Ohospee Eiver and its tributaries, and there were 
very few clearings or plantations. Quito a number of mules 
and horses were captured ia the swamps, the citizens having 
run them off in the hope of escaping the Union army and 
Wheeler's cavalry, both equally dreaded. 

Let us now turn to the left wing. On the afternoon of the 
26th of November, Jackson's and Geary's divisions of Wil- 
liams' twentieth corps were moved down to Tennille Station, 
leaving Ward's division to cover the train. The Fii'st Mi- 
chigan Engineers reported for duty with the corps. 

On the 27th, 28th, and 29th, the Central railway, and aU the 
wagon-bridges over Williamson's Swamp Creek, were destroyed 
from Tennille Station to the Ogeechee Eiver, including the 
long railAvay bridge over that stream, by Jackson's and Geary's 
divisions, and the Michigan Engineers. Ward's division 
marched with the trains, by way of Davisboro', across the 



276 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Ogeecliee and Eocky Comfort rivers, and encamped near 
Louisville. 

On the Both, Jackson and Geary moved up the Ogeechee to 
Coward's Bridge, which was found partly destroyed, but easily 
repaired, and the whole corps encamped about three miles 
south of Louisville. 

Meanwhile, on the 27th of November, the trains of the 
Fourteenth Corps, under escort of Carlin's division, moved by 
the way of Davisboro' upon Louisville, while Baird's and 
Morgan's divisions, unencumbered, moved on the Finn's 
Bridge road ; thus protecting the left flank from any demon- 
strations the enemy's cavalry might make from that direction 
upon the trains. 

These two di\'isions, united under the command of Brig- 
adier-General Baird, marching on a road between the Ogee- 
chee River and Kocky Comfort Creek, reached Louisville 
early in the afternoon of the 28th, immediately laid a 
pontoon bridge across the creek, and commenced the pas- 
sage of troops. Owing to the movements of Ward's division 
of the Twentieth Corps with the trains, occupying the main 
road from Davisboro' to Louisville, Carlin's division and the 
trains of the Fourteenth Corps moving on that road were only 
able to reach the Ogeechee about three o'clock, p. M. The 
Fifty-eighth Indiana Pontoniers, under Colonel G. P. Buell, 
under the personal supervision of General Slocum, imme- 
diately commenced laying their bridges, and repaii-ing the 
roads destroyed by the enemy, and before night the troops 
and trains were passing both streams into their camj)s around 
Louisville. 

The road, running as it does here through an immense 
cypress swamp, required considerable labor to put and keep 
it in condition for the passage of trains, and it was not 
imtil noon the next day that the entire column succeeded in 
getting into camp. Early on the morning of the 29th, a re- 
port was received from General Kilpatrick that he was about 
ten miles from Louisville, on tlie road leading direct to Buck- 
head Bridge, hard pressed by Wheeler. 



THE LOST ARirr 277 

Kilpatrick, having received his instructions from General 
Sherman, had also started from Milledgeville on the 25th, and 
marching by Sparta, crossed the Ogeechee Kiver at the 
shoals, and thence continuing his course by Spread Oak, 
Woodburn, and St. Clair, struck the railway on the 27th at 
Waynesboro' ; the advance, under Captain Estes, assistant- 
adjutant-general, having destroyed a portion of the track, 
and partly burned the railway bridge over Briar Creek the 
day previous. During the march, Kiljpatrick's flanks and rear 
had been repeatedly attacked by Wheeler's cavalry, but with- 
out delaying the movement. Passing through Waynesboro', 
Kilpatrick encamped his division in line of battle on the rail- 
way, three miles south of the town. Several attacks were made 
during the night upon Colonel Murray's Une, but they were 
easily repulsed, and did not prevent the destruction of the 
track, one battalion being detailed from each regiment for that 
purpose. Here Kilpatrick learned that our prisoners had 
been removed from Millen two days previous, and the great 
object of his movement in"that direction being thus frustrated, 
after destroying sufficient track to prevent transportation on 
the road for a few days, he deemed it prudent to retire to the 
support of the infantry. Accordingly, Colonel Atkins' brigade 
was ordered to move out to the intersection of the Waynes- 
boro' and Louisville road, and there take up position, while 
Colonel Murray should move past him and take up position 
in his rear, and so on in succession retire from any force that 
might be sent in pursuit. By some misunderstanding. Colonel 
Atkins moved on without halting as directed, and the conse- 
quence was, that two regiments, the Eighth Indiana, Colonel 
Jones, and Ninth Michigan Cavalry, Colonel Acker, together 
with General Kilpatrick himself and all his staff, were cut off 
and partly surrounded. But these two regiments, by their 
splendid fighting, led by Kilpatrick, broke through the rebel 
lines, and slowly fell back, repulsing every attack of the enemy, 
until the main column was again reached. The cavalry moved 
on, crossed Buckliead Creek, burned the bridge, and halted 
two miles from the creek, where information soon reached Kil- 



278 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

patrick that "WTieeler was crossing with his entire force. 
Parties sent out having ascertained this report to be true, 
Kilpatrick took up a strong position, and constructed a long 
line of barricades, with liis flanks thrown well to the rear. 
These disj^ositions were scarcely completed ere the enemy came 
in sight and made a most desperate charge, but was hand- 
somely repulsed at all points, and with but slight loss. The 
cavalry moved on a few miles further, and encamped at the 
first place where forage could be obtained, the enemy making 
no further attempts to follow. 

Immediately on receipt of General Kilpatrick's message, 
General Jefferson C. Davis sent a brigade of Baird's di\dsion 
of his corps, under Colonel Morton C. Hunter, to the support 
of the cavahy ; but "Wheeler having been abeady repulsed in 
the thorough manner just narrated, these re-enforcements were 
not needed. 

During the 29th Kilpatrick came in and took position near 
the l^ourteenth Corps, on the east bank of Big Creek. 

Having successfully, and almost without opposition, passed 
the last of the three large rivers, the Ocmulgee, the Oconee, 
and the Ogeechee, that crossed its path and formed the strong 
natural lines of defence against its movements, Sherman's 
army now lay with its left wing and the cavahy on the east 
bank of the latter stream, its right in close communication 
with it on the other side, and on the morrow would begin the 
easy and unbroken descent to the sea. 



THE LOST ARMY. 279 



CHAPTER XXn. 

TO THE SEA. 

We shall first follow tlie movements of the right wing down 
the Ogeechee. Osterhaus, with the Fifteenth Corps, kept the 
right, and Blair, with the Seventeenth Corps, still accompanied 
by General Sherman, the left. 

On the 30th of November, 1864, Woods' and and Corse's 
di^^sions, of the Fifteenth Corps, pushed on through Summer- 
ville northward, till they reached the upper Savannah road, 
and encamped near Deep Creek. Blau* moved forward to 
Barton, or Station No. 9^ ; he rebuilt the partially destroyed 
wagon bridge, laid a pontoon bridge, and crossed the Ogeechee 
at that point. 

On the 1st of December, the three columns moved as foUows : 
the lower one, consisting of Hazen's and John E. Smith's divi- 
sons, on the Statesborough road ; the middle column, compris- 
ing Woods' and Corse's divisions, upon the Savannah road ; 
and Blair's seventeenth corps, constituting the left, along the 
Georgia Central railway, destroying it as it marched. The 
two right columns encamped opposite Station No. 8, General 
Woods securing and repairing the wagon bridge across the 
Ogeechee at that point ; and a small force crossed over, made, 
break in the railway, and destroyed the depot. The Seven- 
teenth Corps succeeded in reaching Station No. 9. 

On the 2d the column preserved the same order of march. 
General Blair reached MiUen, ha\dng completely destroyed the 
railway up to that point, including the depot and a large 
quantity of lumber, ties, etc. The middle column encamped 



280 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

near Clifton's Ferry, having thrown a bridge over the Ogeechee 
at that point, and sent a brigade of Corse's division to assist the 
Seventeenth Corps in breaking up the railway. Scull's Creek, 
a wide stream, too deep to be forded, was carefully bridged in 
two places. Scouting parties hurried on to Scarborough, a 
httle below, and seized a mail with Savannah papers of that 
day. 

On the 3d, the Fifteenth Corps remained in position, ex- 
cepting that two brigades of Corse's division crossed the river, 
and aided the Seventeenth Corps in destroying the railway 
from Millen to Scarborough. The Seventeenth Corps came up 
abreast, encamping near Scarborough, or Station No. 7. 

On the 4th the central column, "Woods and Corse, marched to 
Wilson's Creek ; the left, Blau- and part of Corse's division, 
reached Station No. 5|, having contiuued the destruction of 
the railway up to that point ; and the right, Hazen and John 
E, Smith, proceeded as far as Statesborough. Hazen's divi- 
sion, leading, encountered a small body of the enemy's cavalry, 
said to be four hundred strong, and had a successful skirmish 
with them. The road being boggy, Hazen was obliged to cor- 
duroy several long stretches during the day. 

On the 5th the two columns of the Fifteenth Corps moved 
along their respective roads to a position nearly opposite Guy- 
ton, or Station No. 3. General Howard, who was with the 
central column, hearing that some resistance was offered to 
General Blair near Ogeechee Church, caused a feint of cross- 
ing the Ogeechee to be made at Flat Ford. Some men were 
thrown over in. boats, but no bridge was laid. General Sher- 
man detained General Blair near Station No. 4|, for the left 
wing to come up. 

On the 6th, reconnoissances were made towards Wright's 
Bridge and Jenks' Bridge at Eden Station with a view of saving 
them, if possible. Colonel Williamson's brigade of General 
Woods' division reached the former in time to save much of the 
timber, but all the planking and several of the trestles were 
aheady burned. He, however, constructed a foot-bridge and 
crossed over a small force which he pushed forward towards the 



TO THE SEA. 281 

railway. A small detaclimeiit went as far as tlie Twenty-Mile 
Station and returned, skirmishing aU tlie way. Colonel Oliver's 
brigade, of Hazen's division, made tlie reconnoissance to 
Jenks' Bridge, but found it destroyed. General Howard sent 
an officer. Lieutenant Harney, with a select party to strike the 
GuK railway, but he found the bridge across the Cannouchee 
burned and the approaches were guarded by rebels, so that he 
was compelled to return without doing the work. 

On the 7th, Woods remained at "Wright's Bridge, except 
one brigade of infantry, that crossed the foot-bridge and 
marched down the east bank of the Ogeechee towards Eden 
Station. On the arrival of the pontoons at Jenks' Bridge, 
Captain C. B. Reese, chief-engineer of the Army of the Ten- 
nessee, finding the enemy on the other bank, threw over a 
regiment of Colonel OUver's brigade and cleared the way. 
The bridge was immediately laid. General Corse's division 
had arrived by this time. One brigade. General Bice com- 
manding, crossed over, met the enemy's skirmishers some five 
hundred yards beyond, drove them in, and in a very handsome 
manner routed a battaUon of rebels behind rail-piles, captur- 
ing seventeen prisoners, and killing and wounding several more. 
The brigade lost two killed and two or three wounded. It then 
formed a junction with a brigade of Woods' division fi'om 
Wright's Bridge, at Eden Station. Hazen's division moved 
on to Black Creek, sending forward Colonel Ohver's brigade 
to the Cannouchee. The rest of the Fifteenth Corps encamped 
near Jenks' Bridge. The Seventeenth Corps encamped in the 
vicinity of Guyton, or Station No. 3, ceasing to destroy the 
railway after leaving Ogeechee Church. 

On the 8th of December, as the enemy was reported in some 
force near the twelve-mile post, having a line of works in his 
front. General Howard resolved to turn his position by sending 
two divisions of the Fifteenth Corps down the west bank of 
the Ogeechee to force a crossing of the Cannouchee, and throw 
forward sufficient detachments to break the Gulf railway, and 
if possible secure King's Bridge over the Ogeechee, about a 
mile above the railway, and also to reconnoitre with one 



282 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

division between tlie Big and Little Ogeechee rivers. Tlie 
movement on tlie right bank began first, led by General Oster- 
liaus in person, witli Woods' and Hazen's divisions. General 
Howard liimseK accompanied General Corse, who found a 
good ridge road down the left bank of the main Ogeechee, 
and came upon some carefully constructed but abandoned 
works three miles and a half fi'om Eden, or Station No. 2. 
The road was obstructed with felled trees at several points, 
but the impediments were so quickly removed by the pioneers 
that the column did not halt. On reaching the Savannah 
Canal, the bridge over it was found to have been burned, but 
a new one was made in less than half an hour. The Ogeechee 
bridge, near the mouth of the canal, at DiUen's Ferry, was 
found practicable for a pontoon bridge. General Corse sent 
forward a reconnoissance, which discovered the enemy in force 
at the junction of this road and the King's Bridge and Sa- 
vannah road. General Osterhaus effected a crossing of the 
Cannouchee with two brigades, as directed. The Seventeenth 
Corps, meanwhile, moved up abreast of Eden, or Station No. 
2, having much corduroj-ing to do and many obstructions to 
clear away. After reaching the canal. General Howard re- 
turned to Station No. 2, and communicated mth General 
Sherman in person, who directed him to allow General Blair 
to contuiue on the Louisville road. 

The next day, December 9th, the Seventeenth Corps came 
upon the enemy in rifle-pits, three and a half mUes fifom 
Station No. 2. General Blair cbove the rebels fi'om them, 
but soon came upon an intrenched line with guns in position. 
At this place the road led through a swamp densely covered 
with the wood and undergrowth peculiar to this region, 
and apparently impassable ; but General Blair moved three 
lines of battle, preceded by a skirmish line, along on the riglit 
and left of the road for some two or three miles, occasionally 
in water knee-deep, drove the enemy from every position 
where he made a stand, and encamped for the night near 
Pooler, or Station No. 1. The detached brigades of the 
Fifteenth Corps succeeded in reaching the Savannah and 



TO THE SEA. 283 

GuK railway at different points, and destroying it. Tlie 
third division, General John E. Smith, closed up on Corse's 
at the canal. As soon as he was within supporting dis- 
tance. General Corse moved forward towards Savannah. He 
encountered about sis hundred rebel infantry with two pieces 
of artillery near the cross-roads. His advance brigade 
quickly dislodged them, capturing one piece of artillery and 
several prisoners. He followed them up across the Little 
Ogeechee, and by General Howard's direction took up a 
strong position about twelve miles from Savannah, and thence 
sent out a detachment to break the Gulf railway. His advance 
crossed the Little Ogeechee, and halted about eight miles 
fi'om the city. King's Bridge had been burned by the rebels. 
All the enemy's force was withdrawn from Osterhaus' fi'ont 
in the morning, except the independent garrison at Fort 
McAllister, situated on the right bank and near the mouth of 
the Ogeechee. During the day that section of the pontoon- 
bridge which had been with General Blair's column, was sent 
to Dillen's Ferry, near Fort Argyle, and laid across the Ogee- 
chee, thus substantially uniting the two right columns of 
Howard's army. 

To return to the left wing. 

Williams' twentieth corps marched fi'om Louisville on the 
1st of December. From that time to the 8th, its hne of march 
was down the Peninsula between the Ogeechee and Savannah 
rivers, following the Louisville and Savannah road, encamping 
on the 1st on Baker's Creek ; on the 2d at Buckhead Church , 
on the 3d at Horse Creek ; on the 4th at Little Ogeechee ; on 
the 5th at Sylvania Cross-roads ; on the 6th near Cowpens 
Creek ; on the 7th on Jack's Branch, near Springfield ; and on 
the 8th near Eden Cross-roads. As the coast neared, the 
surface of the country became flat and swampy. Large ponds 
or pools were met every mile or so, and the creeks spread out 
into several miry branches. The roads between the creeks 
and ponds, though apparently of sand, and of substantial 
character, proved to be upon a thin crust, which was soon cut 
through by the long trains into the deep quicksand, thus 



28J: SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

requiring miles of corduroy. At several of tlie swamps, tlie 
enemy liad attempted to obstruct the march by felling timber. 

On the 9th the direction of march was changed to the east, 
taking the road from Eden to Monteith Post-office, on the 
Charleston railway. At the large Monteith swamp, the enemy, 
besides obstructing the road for nearly a mile by felling trees, 
had built two small earthworks, and with a single gun and 
about four hundred infantry made a show of stopping the 
march of the corps. Jackson's division being in advance, was 
ordered to throw out several regiments on each flank, while a 
brigade in the centre should make a feint, to engage attention 
and enable the pioneers to clear the obstructions. As soon as 
a portion of Kobinson's brigade, under Colonel West, Thirty- 
first Wisconsin Volunteers, could cross the swamp the enemy 
fled, leaving behind a considerable quantity of new clothing 
and accoutrements. Jackson's loss was one man killed and 
four wounded. 

On the morning of the 10th, the corps moved down to 
Monteith Station, on the Charleston railway, and after de- 
stroying some miles of the road, marched to a point near the 
five-mile post, on the Augusta and Savannah railway. Here, 
meeting the enemy's strong line of defences behind swamps 
and artificial ponds, the corps was ordered to encamp for the 
night. During the afternoon a party of foragers, with some 
cavalry, succeeded in capturing, near the foot of Argyle Island, 
a rebel dispatch-boat called the Ida, having on board Colonel 
Chnch, of General Hardee's staff, with dispatches for the rebel 
gunboats on the river above. The boat was unfortunately set 
on fire and burned. 

On the 30th of November, Carlin's division of Jefferson C. 
Davis' fourteenth corps marched to Sebastopol, with a view 
to uncovermg the crossing of the Ogeechee by other troops 
advancing in that direction. The next day, in the general 
advance of the army upon Millen, Davis was ordered to 
cross Buckhead Creek, at some point between Waynesboro' 
and BirdsviUe, for which place the Twentieth Corps was 
movinsf. 



TO THE SEA. 285 

Baird's division, with. Kilpatrick's cavalry, was ordered to 
move in the direction of Waynesboro', and after crossing Buck- 
head Creek, to move doT\Ti the east bank of that stream 
and take position near Beynolds, not far fi'om Buckhead 
bridge. 

Morgan's division, in charge of the whole corps train, moved 
on the dkect road to the bridge, and encamped ten miles from 
Louisville. 

On the 2d of December, Baird and Kilpatrick completed 
the movement just indicated, Carlin's division joined the 
column fi'om the direction of Sebastopol, and the whole corps 
went into camp at the crossing of the Birdsville and Waynes- 
boro' roads, about two miles from the bridge. 

The change in the direction of march of the Twentieth Corps 
to the Louisville and Spring-field road again caused a deflection 
in the hne of march of the Fourteenth Corps ; and on the morn- 
ing of the 3d, pontoon bridges were laid across the creek, at a 
point about five miles higher up the stream, and the troops and 
trains began crossing at half-past ten o'clock. Jacksonboro' 
had by this time been designated, by General Sherman, as the 
next objective point for the concentration of the corps ; and 
General Davis ordered Baird and Kilpatrick to move from 
Reynolds, in the direction of Waynesboro', with a view to 
leading the enemy to believe that the next advance would be 
upon Augusta. CarHn and Morgan, after a hard day's work 
upon the roads, went into camp at Lumpkin's Station, where 
the Jacksonboro' road crosses the Augusta and Savannah 
railway. Baird and Kilpatrick took position near Thomas' 
Station, where the enemy was found in considerable force. 

On the 4th, Carlin's and Morgan's division, with the three 
corps trains, after destroying three miles of railway, moved in 
the direction of Jacksonboro', and encamped thirteen miles 
beyond Lumpkin's Station. Baird and Kilpatrick, after some 
fighting with Wheeler's cavalry, drove the enemy from 
Waynesboro', and across Brier Creek. Baird, in the me^n 
time, destroyed three miles of railway near Thomas' Station. 

On the 5th, after a hard day's march over country roads, 



286 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

wliich required miicli repairing, the whole corps, with Kilpat- 
rick's cavaby, encamped in the vicinity of Jacksonboro', the 
advance being at Buck Creek Post-office, on the Savannah 
road. 

During the night, the bridge across Beaver-dam Creek, 
at Jacksonboro', which had been destroyed, was rebuilt by 
Colonel Buell, of the Fifty-eighth Indiana, and his pontoniers ; 
and early on the morning of the 6th, the whole column marched 
on the river-road, and went into camp at and in advance of 
Hudson's Ferry, on the Savannah Biver, making an average 
march of about twenty miles. 

On the 7th, the column moved in the same order of march, 
Baird and Kilpatrick, with Colonel Atkins' brigade, unencum- 
bered by the trains, covering the rear. Morgan's division, 
with the pontoon train, reached Ebenezer Creek late in the 
evening, and began cutting away the fallen timber which 
obstructed the roadway through the immense swamp which 
skhts the creeks on both sides at this point. Notwithstand- 
ing an exceedingly hard day's march, the pontoniers, under 
Colonel Buell, set to work at once to reconstruct the bridge, 
and by noon the next day the column commenced crossing 
this formidable defile ; but in spite of the immense amount of 
labor expended upon the road and bridge, to make them pass- 
able, much was still required to maintain them in condition, 
and it was not until daylight on the 9th that the rear of 
the column had completed the crossing. 

During the 8th, the enemy's cavahy made several attempts 
to drive in the rear pickets of the Fourteenth Corps, but did not 
succeed. The loss in the corps during these attacks was but 
slight, although at times the skirmishing was quite animated. 

On the morning of the 9th, the crossing of Ebenezer Creek 
being now completed, as already stated, the corps marched 
fi-om its camp at Ebenezer Church to Cuyler's plantation, 
where General Morgan, who was in the advance, found the 
enemy occupying a strongly-erected field-work, and disposed 
to dispute his advance. Morgan immediately placed two 
field-pieces in position and opened fire upon the work. His 



TO THE SEA. 287 

infantry was soon deployed for an attack, but tlie near approach 
of night, and the impossibility of assaulting the position, 
through the impassable swamp in the front, caused General 
Davis to defer the attack until morning, when it was discovered 
the enemy had abandoned his position. 

On the 10th, Morgan's and Carhn's divisions, with trains, 
moved to the Ten-mile House, and went into camp, giving the 
road to the Twentieth Corps, advancing from Monteith and 
intersecting the Augusta road. Baird's division was left to 
cover the rear, and tear up the railway track in the vicinity 
of the crossing of the Savannah Eiver, and if possible to 
destroy the bridge at that point. 

To preserve the historical sequence, it is necessary to glance 
separately at the movements of the cavalry division under 
Kilpatrick, already briefly touched upon so far as they 
were directly connected with the operations of the several 
corps. 

On the 2d of December, as has been seen, Kilpatrick moved 
from the vicinity of Louisville, on the Waynesboro' road, sup- 
ported by Baird's di^asion of the Fifteenth Corps, to coyer the 
movement of several columns on Millen. A small force of the 
enemy was encountered and dispersed by the Eighth Indiana, 
Colonel Jones, and the Fifth Kentucky, Colonel Baldwin, nine 
miles fi'om Waynesboro', not ^dthout a severe skirmish. On 
reddling Rocky Creek, the enemy was found in considerable 
force on the opposite bank. Baird's diAdsion came up, and a 
force of both cavaby and infantry crossed the creek and simul- 
taneously charged the enemy, who rapidly retreated towards 
Waynesboio' and Augusta, closely pursued for some distance 
by the caYalry. 

On the bd, Kilpatrick marched to Thomas' Station and 
tsncamped foi the night, Jiaving made such disposition of his 
forces as to protect Baird's division, then deployed along 
the railway and engaged in its destruction. Wheeler, 
who had been encamped between Waynesboro' and Brier 
Creek, moved in the early part of the evening to Waynes- 
boio', and, with a portion of his command, made a vigorous 



288 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

attack upon one of Colonel Atkins' regiments, stationed upon 
the railway, three miles south of the town. This attack was 
easily repulsed, as were several others, made during the 
night. Having received orders that day from General Sher- 
man to make a strong reconnoissance in the direction of 
Waynesboro', and to engage Wheeler whenever he might be 
met, Kilpatrick directed his brigade commanders to send the 
surplus animals and all non-combatants to the wagon-trains, 
and notify them that in the morning he would move to engage, 
defeat, and rout the rebel cavalry encamped at Waynesboro'. 
At dayhght on the 4th the cavahy moved out of camp, 
Atkins' brigade leading the advance. The enemy's skirmish 
line was met, quickly driven in, and finally retired upon his 
main line, consisting of dismounted cavahy, strongly posted 
behind long hues of barricades, with their flanks w^ell secured. 
Colonel Atkins was directed to move forward and take the 
barricades ; but the enemy was found to be more strongly 
posted than was anticipated, and the first attempt was a fail- 
ure. The Ninety-second IlKnois Mounted Infantry was dis- 
mounted ; the Tenth Ohio and Ninth Michigan Cavalry, in 
columns of fours, by battahons, were sent in on the right, and 
the Ninth Ohio Cavahy was placed in the same order on the 
left ; the Tenth Wisconsin battery. Captain Beebe, was 
brought up to within less than six hundred yards, and opened 
upon the barricades, and the enemy's artillery, in all five 
pieces, was forced to withdraw. At this moment, all being 
ready, the charge was sounded ; the whole line moved forward 
in splendid order, and never halted for one moment until the 
barricades were gained and the enemy routed. A few hun- 
dred yards beyond, the enemy made several counter-charges, 
to save his dismounted men and check Kilpatrick's rapid ad- 
vance. At one time he had nearly succeeded, when the Eighth 
Ohio Cavahy, Colonel Heath, wliich had been sent out on Kil- 
patrick's right, charged the enemy in flank and rear, and forced 
them to give way at all points, and rapidly to fall back to the 
town of Waynesboro'. Here the enemy was found occupying a 
second line of barricades, with artillery, as before, and his flanks 



TO THE SEA. 289 

SO far extended that it was useless to attempt to turn them. 
Kilpatrick therefore determined to break his centre. Colonel 
Murray, having the advance, was directed to make a disposi- 
tion accordingly. The Eighth Indiana, Colonel Jones, was 
dismounted and pushed forward as skirmishers ; the Ninth 
Pennsylvania, Colonel Jordan, in columns of fours, by battal- 
ions, had the left ; the Third Kentucky, Lieutenant-Colonel 
King, the centre ; the Fifth Kentucky, Colonel Baldwin, and 
Second Kentucky, Captain Foreman, the right. The advance 
was sounded, and in less than twenty minutes the enemy was 
driven from his position, the to-^Ti gained, and Wheeler's en- 
tire force completely routed. The Fifth Ohio, Fifth Kentucky, 
and a portion of the Nmth Pennsylvania Cavalry, followed in 
close pursuit to Brier Creek, a distance of eight miles from 
the point from where the first attack was made. After burn- 
ing the bridges above and below the railway bridge, as well as 
the latter, the cavalry marched to Alexander, on the Waynes- 
boro' and Jacksonboro' road, and encamped for the night. 

On the 5th, Kilpatrick marched from Alexander to Jackson- 
boro', covering the rear of the Fourteenth Army Corps, as 
already stated. 

On the 6th, Colonel Murray's brigade marched to Spring- 
field, mo\'ing in rear of the Twentieth Corps, and Colonel 
Atkins' brigade moved to Hudson Ferry. 

On the 7th, when near Sister's Ferry, the Ninth Michigan, 
Colonel Acker, acting as rear-guard of Colonel Atkins' brigade, 
received and repulsed an attack made by Ferguson's brigade 
of Confederate cavalry. 

On the 8th, Atkins' brigade crossed Ebenezer Creek, and 
the whole division united on the Monteith road, ten miles 
south of Springfield. From this point the cavalry moved in 
rear of the Seventeenth Corps, covering the rear of the other 
corps by detachments. 

Thus, on the 10th of December, 1864, the enemy's forces 
under Hardee were driven within the immediate defences of 
Savannah, and Sherman's entire army having leisurely marched 
over three hundred miles in twenty-four days with trifling 

19 



290 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

opposition tlirongli the vitals of the enemy's conntry, subsist- 
ing upon his stock-yards and granaries, was massed in front 
of the city, entirely across the peninsula lying between the 
Ogeechee and Savannah rivers, and occupying all the lines of 
railway communication and supply. 



A CHRISTMAS GIFT. 291 



CHAPTER XXni. 



A CHKISTMAS GIFT. 



The defensive works constructed by the enemy to cover the 
rear of Savannah, and now garrisoned by the Confederate 
forces under Lieutenant-General Hardee, followed substantially 
a swampy creek which empties mto the Savannah River about 
three miles above the city, across to the head of a correspond- 
ing stream flowing into the Little Ogeechee. These streams 
proved singularly favorable to the enemy as a cover, being A'ery 
marshy and bordered by rice-fields, which were flooded either 
by the tide-water or by inland ponds, the gates to which were 
controlled and covered by his heavy artillery. The only ap- 
proaches to the city were by five narrow causeways, namely, 
the two railways, and the Augusta, the Louisville, and the 
Ogeechee roads, all of which were commanded by the enemy's 
heavy ordnance. 

To assault an enemy of unknown strength at such a dis- 
advantage appeared to Sherman unwise, especially as he 
had brought his army, almost unscathed, so gTcat a distance, 
and could surely attain the same result by the operation 
of time. He therefore instructed his army commanders closely 
to invest the city from the north and west, and to recon- 
noitre well the grovmd in their respective fi'onts, while he 
gave his personal attention to opening communications with 
the fleet, which was known to be waiting in Tybee, Wassaw, 
and Ossabaw sounds, in accordance with the preconcerted plan. 
WiUiams' twentieth corps held the left of the Union line, rest- 
ing on the Savannah River, near WiUiamson's plantation ; Jef- 
ferson C. Da\is' foui'teenth corps was on its riglit, extending 
from the Augusta railway, near its junction with the Charles- 



292 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

ton railway, to Lawton's plantation, beyond the canal ; Blair's 
seventeenth corps next, and Osterhaus' fifteenth corps on the 
extreme right, with its flank resting on the Gulf railway, at 
Station No. 1. General Kilpatrick was instructed to cross the 
Ogeechee by a pontoon bridge, to reconnoitre Fort McAllister, 
and to proceed to St. Catherine's Sound, in the direction of 
Sunbury or Ivilkenny Bluff, and open communication with the 
fleet. General Howard had previously sent Captain Duncan, 
one of his best scouts, dowTi the Ogeechee in a canoe for a Hke 
purpose ; but it was also necessary to have the ships and theii- 
contents, and the Ogeechee River, close to the rear of the 
camps, as the proper avenue of supply. 

The enemy had burned King's Bridge, over the Ogeechee, 
just below the mouth of the Cannouchee; but although a 
thousand feet long, it was reconstructed in an incredibly short 
time, and in the most substantial manner, by the Fifty-eighth 
Indiana, Colonel Buell, under the direction of Captain C. B. 
Reese, of the Engineer Corps ; and on the 13th of December, 
Hazen's division of Osterhaus' fiifteenth corps crossed the 
bridge, gained the w^est bank of the Ogeechee, and marched 
down the river with orders to carry by assault Fort McAlHster, 
a strong inclosed redoubt, manned by two companies of artil- 
lery and three of infantry, numbering in all about two hundred 
men, and mounting twenty -three barbette guns and one mortar. 

On the morning of the 13th of December, General Sherman 
and General Howard went to Dr. Cheves' rice-mill, whence 
Fort McAllister was in full view. At the rice-mill a section of 
De Grass' battery was firing occasionally at the fort opposite, 
three miles and a haK distant, as a diversion, having for its 
princij)al object, however, to attract the attention of the fleet. 
During the day the two commanders watched the fort and the 
bay, endeavoring to catch ghmpses of the division moving upon 
the work, and of vessels belonging to the fleet. Al)out noon, 
the rebel artillery at McAllister opened inland, firing occasion- 
ally from three or four different guns. By their glasses the 
generals could observe Hazen's skii-mishers firing on the fort ; 
and about the same time a movable smoke, like that fi'om a 



A CHRISTMAS GIFT. 293 

steamer, attracted tlieir attention near tlie moutli of the 
Ogeecliee. 

Signal communication was established with General Hazen, 
who gave notice tliat he had invested the fort, and also that 
he observed the steamer. General Sherman signalled him from 
the top of the mill that it was important to carry the fort by 
assault that day. 

The steamer had approached near enough to draw the fire 
of the fort when her signal-flag was descried. Captain McChn- 
tock, of the Signal Corps, aided by Lieutenant Sampson, 
speedily communicated with the vessel, and ascertained that 
she was a tug, sent by General Foster and Admiral Dahlgren 
for the purpose of communicating with the army. The signal- 
ofl&cer of the steamer inquired, "Is McAllister ours ?" 

Just at that moment a brisk firing was observed at the 
fort. Hazen had sounded the charge, and instantly his brave 
division had rushed through the torpedoes and abattis which 
obstructed the approach to the fort, and gaining the parapet, 
after a hand-to-hand struggle of a few moments' duration, 
the garrison had surrendered. 

From their position at the rice-mill, Sherman and Howard 
could see the men discharge their pieces in the air, and hear 
their shout of triumph as they took possession of the fort and 
raised the old flag over their conquest. 

Hazen's loss in killed and wounded was about ninety men, 
while the garrison lost between forty and fifty, killed and 
wounded ; and the remainder, about one hundred and fifty in 
number, were captured, together with twenty-two pieces of ar- 
tillery and a large quantity of ammunition. 

The substantial fruit of this victory, however, was to be 
found in the fact that communication with the sea was estab- 
lished, and the prompt receipt of supplies secured. 

As soon as he saw the Union colors planted upon the walls 
of the fort, Sherman ordered a boat, and, accompanied by 
General Howard, went down to the fort, and there met General 
Hazen, who had not yet communicated with the steamer, nor 
indeed se en her, as the view was interrupted by some trees. 



294 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Determined to communicate tliat niglit with tlie fleet, Sherman 
got into another boat, and caused himself to be rowed down 
the Ogeechee, until he met the navy tug-boat Dandelion, com- 
manded by Lieutenant-Commander Williamson, who informed 
him that Captain Duncan, who, it will be remembered, was sent 
dovra the river a few days previously by General Howard, had 
safely reached Major-General Foster and Kear-Admiral Dahl- 
gren, commanding the land and naval forces on the South At- 
lantic coast, and that these officers were hourly expected to 
arrive in Ossabaw Sound, where the Dandehon was then lying. 

At midnight, Sherman wrote brief notes to General Foster and 
the admiral, and a dispatch to the secretary of war, recount- 
ing the main facts of the campaign, and the present situation. 

" The w^eather has been fine," he said to Mr. Stanton, " and 
supphes were abundant. Our march was most agTeeable, and 

we. were not at all molested by guerrillas We have 

not lost a wagon on the trip, but have gathered in a large supply 
of negroes, mules, horses, etc., and our trains are in far better 
condition than when we started. My first duty will be to clear 

the army of surplus negroes, mules, and horses 

The quick work made with McAllister, and the opening of 
communication with our fleet, and the consequent independence 
for supplies, dissipates all their boasted threats to head me off 
and starve the army. I regard Savannah as already gained." 

He then returned to Fort McAllister, and before daylight 
was overtaken by Major Strong, of General Foster's staff, with 
inteUigence that General Foster had arrived in the Ogeechee, 
near Fort McAllister, and was very anxious to meet General 
Sherman on board his boat. Sherman accordingly returned 
with the major, and met General Foster on board the steamer 
Nemaha ; and, after consultation, determined to proceed with 
him down the sound, in hopes of meeting Admiral Dahlgreu, 
which, however, they did not do until about noon, in Wassaw 
Sound. General Sherman there went on board the admiral's 
flagship, the Harvest Moon, after having arranged with Gen- 
eral Foster to send from Hilton Head some siege ordnance 
and boats suitable for navigating the Ogeechee Eiver. Ad- 



A CHRISTMAS GIFT. 295 

miral Dalilgren furnished all the data concerning his fleet and 
the numerous forts that guarded the inland channels between 
the sea and Savannah ; and Sherman explained to him how 
completely Savannah was invested at all points, save only the 
plank-road on the South Carolina shore, knoAvn as the " Union 
Causeway," which he thought he could reach fi'om his left 
flank across the Savannah Eiver. The general also informed 
the admiral that if he would simply engage the attention of 
the forts along Wilmington Channel, at Beaulieu and Kosedew, 
the army could carry the defences of Savannah by assault as 
soon as the heavy ordnance arrived from Hilton Head. 

On the 15th, Sherman returned to the lines in the rear of 
Savannah. 

Having received and carefully considered all the reports of 
division commanders, he determined to assault the lines of the 
enemy as soon as the heavy ordnance should arrive from Port 
Eoyal, first making a formal demand for surrender. On the 
17th, a number of thirty-pounder Parrott guns having reached 
King's Bridge, Sherman proceeded in person to the head- 
quarters of Major-General Slocum, on the Augusta road, and 
dispatched thence into Savannah, by flag of truce, a formal 
demand for the surrender of the place, accompanied by a 
copy of Hood's threat, at Dalton, to take no prisoners, and on 
the foUoAving day received an answer from General Hardee 
conveying his refusal to accede thereto. In his reply, General 
Hardee pointed out that the investment was still incomplete. 

In the mean time, further rec.onnoissances from the loft 
flank had demonstrated that it was impracticable and unwise 
to push any considerable force across the Savannah Kivcr, 
since the enemy held the river opposite the city with iron-clad 
gunboats, and could destroy any pontoons laid down between 
Hutchinson's Island and the South Carohna shore, and thereby 
isolate any force sent over from that flank. Sherman, there- 
fore, ordered General Slocum to get into position the siege- 
guns, and make aU the preparations necessary to assault, and 
to report the earliest moment when he could be ready. 

General Foster had already established a division of troops 



296 SHERMAN AND HIS CAI^IPAIGNS. 

on the peninsula or neck between tlie Coosawliatcliie and Tulli- 
finnej rivers, at the head of Broad River, whence he could reach 
the railway with his artillery. Sherman himseH went to Port 
Royal, and made arrangements to re-enforce that command by 
one or more divisions, so as to enable it to assault and carry 
the railway, and thence turn towards Savannah until it should 
occupy the causeway. He made the voyage on board Admiral 
Dahlgren's flag-ship, the Harvest Moon, which put to sea the 
night of the 20th ; but the wind was high, and increased during 
the night, so that the pilot considered Ossabaw Bar impassable, 
and ran into Tybee, whence the steamer proceeded through 
the inland channels into Wassaw Sound, and thence through 
Romney Marsh. But the ebb-tide having caught the Harvest 
Moon, so that she was unable to make the passage, Admiral 
Dahlgren took the general in his barge, and pullmg in the di- 
rection of Vernon River, the army-tug Red Legs was there 
met, bearing a message from Captain Dayton, assistant-adju- 
tant-general, dated that morning, the 21st, to the effect that 
the troops were already in possession of the enemy's lines, 
and were advancing without opposition into Savannah. Ad- 
miral Dahlgren proceeded up the Vernon River in his barge, 
while General Sherman went on board the tug, in which he 
proceeded to Fort McAlHster, and thence to the rice-mill, 
whence he had viewed the assault, and on the morning of the 
22d rode into the city of Savannah. 

After firing heavily from his iron-clads and the batteries 
along the hnes, all the afternoon, and late into the evening of 
the 20th, Hardee had evacuated the city during that night, 
on a pontoon bridge, and marched towards Charleston on the 
causeway road. The night being very dark, and a strong 
westerly wind blowing, although the sounds of m jvement 
were heard in Geary's front, it was impossible to make out its 
direction or object, and when the pickets of that division 
advanced early on the morning of the 21st the evacuation had 
been comj^leted, and nothing remained but to occupy the 
city. 

Immediately on his arrival, Sherman dispatched the follow- 



A CHRISTMAS GIFT. 297 

ing brief note to President Lincoln, announcing this liappy 
termination of the campaign : — 

" I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Sa- 
vannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of 
ammunition, and also about twenty-five thousand bales of 
cotton." 

The number of pieces of artillery captured, as subsequently 
ascertained by actual inspection and count, was one hundred 
and sixty-seven. 

Thus, as the result of this great campaign, was gained the 
possession of what had from the outset been its chief object. 

Its present value was mainly as a base for future operations. 
f The army marched over three hundred miles in twenty -four 
days, directly through the heart of Georgia, and reached the 
^ea with its subsistence trains almost unbroken. In the 
entire command, five ofiicers and fifty-eight men were killed, 
thirteen ofiicers and two hundred and thirty-two men wounded, 
and one officer and two hundred and fifty-eight men missing ; 
making a total list of casualties of but nineteen commissioned 
officers and five hundred and forty-eight enhsted men, or five 
hundred and sixty-seven of all ranks. Seventy-seven officers, 
and twelve hundred and sixty-one men of the Confederate 
army, or thirteen hundred and thirty-eight in all, were made 
prisoners. Ten thousand negroes left the plantations of their 
former masters and accompanied the column when it reached 
Savannah, without taking note of thousands more who joined 
the army, but from various causes had to leave it at diiferent 
points. Over twenty thousand bales of cotton were burned, 
besides the twenty-five thousand captured at Savannah. Thir- 
teen thousand head of beef-cattle, nine million five hundred 
thousand pounds of corn, and ten million five hundred thousand 
of fodder, were taken fi'om the country and issued to the troops 
and animals. The men lived mainly on the sheep hogs, 
turkeys, geese, chickens, sweet potatoes, and rice, gathered by 
the foragers fi-om the plantations along the route of each day's 



298 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

' march. Sixty tliousancl men, taking merely of the surplus which 
fell in theii- way as they marched rapidly on the main roads, 
subsisted for three weeks in the very country where the Union 
prisoners at Andersonville were starved to death or idiotcy. 
' Five thousand horses and four thousand mules were impressed 
for the cavahy and trains. Three hundred and twenty miles 
of railway were destroyed, and the last remaining links of 
communication between the Confederate armies in Virginia 
and the West effectually severed, by burning every tie, twist- 
ing every rail while heated red-hot over the flaming piles of 
ties, and laying in ruin every depot, engine-house, repair- 
shop, water-tank, and turn-table. 

'' From the time that the army left Atlanta, until its arrival 
before Savannah, not one word of intelligence was received by 
the Government or people, except through the Confederate 
newspapers, of its whereabouts, movements, or fate ; and it 
was not until Sherman had emerged from the region lying 
between Augusta and Macon, and reached Millen, that the 
authorities and the press of the Confederacy were able to make 
up their minds as to the du'ection of his march. 

Marching in four columns, on a front of thirty miles, each 
column masked in all directions by clouds of sldrmishers, 
Sherman was enabled to continue till the last to menace so 
many points, each in such force that it was impossible for the 
enemy to decide whether Augusta, Macon, or Savannah were 
his immediate objective ; the GuK or the Atlantic his destina- 
tion ; the Flint, the Oconee, the Ogeechee, or the Savannah his 
route ; or what his ulterior design. 

Immediately upon receipt of Sherman's laconic message, 
President Lincoln replied : — 

"Executive Mansion, 
" Washington, D. C, Dec. 26, 1864. 

" My Dear Geneeal Sheeman : 

" Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift, — the capture 
of Savannah. 

" When you were about to leave Atlanta for the Atlantic 



A CHRISTMAS GIFT. 299 

coast, I was anxious, if not fearful ; but feeling you were the 
better judge, and rememberiug that ' nothiag risked nothing 
gained,' I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a 
success, the honor is all yours, for I believe none of us went 
further than to acquiesce. And taking the work of General 
Thomas into the count, as it should be taken, it is indeed a 
great success. 

" Not only does it afford the obvious and iramediate military 
advantages, but in showing to the world that your army could 
be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new ser- 
vice, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing 
forces of the whole — Hood's army — it brings those who sat 
in darkness to see a great Hght. 

" But what next ? I suppose it will be safe if I leave Gen- 
eral Grant and yourseK to decide. 

" Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole 
army, officers and men. 

" Yours very truly, 

" A. Lincoln." 

In concluding his official report, Sherman thus speaks of the 
ser%dces rendered by his subordinate commanders, and of the 
character of his army : — 

" Generals Howard and Slocum are gentlemen of singular 
capacity and inteUigence, thorough soldiers and patriots, 
working day and night, not for themselves, but for their 
country and their men. General Kilpatrick, who commanded 
the cavahy of this army, has handled it with spirit and dash 
to my entire satisfaction, and kept a superior force of the 
enemy's cavahy from even approaching our infantry columns 
or wagon-trains. All the division and brigade commanders 
merit my personal and official thanks, and I shall spare no 
efforts to secure them commissions equal to the rank they 
have exercised so well. 

" As to the rank and file, they seem so full of confidence ia 
themselves, that I doubt if they want a compliment from me ; 



300 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

but I must do them the justice to say that, whether called on 
to fight, to march, to wade streams, to make roads, clear out 
obstructions, build bridges, make ' corduroy,' or tear up rail- 
roads, they have done it with alacrity and a degree of cheer- 
fulness unsurpassed. A little loose in foraging, they ' did 
some tlmigs they ought not to have done,' yet on the whole 
they have supplied the wants of the army with as little 
violence as could be expected, and as Httle loss as I calculated. 
Some of these foraging parties had encounters with the enemy 
which would, in ordinary times, rank as respectable battles. 

" The behavior of our troops in Savannah has been so 
manly, so quiet, so perfect, that I take it as the best evidence 
of discipline and true courage. Never was a hostile city, filled 
with women and children, occupied by a large army with less 
disorder, or more system, order, and good government. The 
same general and generous spirit of confidence and good feel- 
ing pervades the army which it has ever afi'orded me especial 
pleasure to report on former occasions." 



THE END OF HOOD. 301 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

THEENDOFHOOD. 

In order fullj to comprehend how it was possible for a cam- 
paign so vast in its magnitude, so decisive in its results, to be 
conducted to a successful termination with only nominal oppo- 
sition, it is necessary to recur to the position of Hood's army, 
which we left at Florence in the early part of November, con- 
fronted by the Union army vmder Thomas, then concentrated 
at Pulaski, under the immediate command of Major-General 
Schofield. 

It will be remembered that, in view of the numerical 
inferiority of his army, comprising the Fourth and Twenty- 
third Corps, Hatch's di\asion, and Croxton's and Capron's 
brigades of cavalry, amounting to less than thirty thousand 
men of all arms, General Thomas had decided to maintain a 
defensive attitude, until the arrival of A. J. Smith with two 
divisions of the Sixteenth Corps from Missouri and the rem- 
nant of dismounted cavalry should enable him to assume the 
offensive, with equal strength, against Hood's forces, consist- 
ing of the three old corps of the Confederate army of the 
Tennessee, under Lee, Stewart, and Cheatham, estimated at 
thirty thousand strong, and Forrest's cavalry, supposed to 
number twelve thousand. In preparation for his great in- 
vasion of Middle Tennessee, with the declared intention of re- 
maining there. Hood had caused the Mobile and Ohio railway 
to be repaired, and occupied Corinth, so that his supplies 
could now be brought from Selma and Montgomery by rail to 
that point, and thence to Cherokee Station, on the Memphis 
and Charleston railway. 



302 SHERMAN AND HIS CAIMPAIGNS. 

On the afternoon of the 12th of November the last telegram 
was received from General Sherman, and all railway and tele- 
graphic communication with his army ceased. From that 
time until the 17th of November was an anxious period for 
Thomas, uncertain whether he should have to pursue Hood in 
an endeavor on his part to foUow Sherman, or defend Tennes- 
see against invasion ; but on that day Cheatham's corps 
crossed to the south side of the Tennessee, and suspense was 
at an end. Hood could not follow Sherman now if he would, 
for Sherman was already two days' march from Atlanta on his 
way to the sea. 

On the 19th of November, Hood began his advance, on par- 
allel roads from Florence towards Waynesboro'. 

General Schofield commenced removing the pubhc property 
from Pulaski preparatory to falling back towards Columbia. 

Two divisions of Stanley's fourth corps had already reached 
Lynnville, fifteen miles north of Pulaski, to cover the passage 
of the wagons and protect the railway. Capron's brigade of 
cavalry was at Mount Pleasant, covering the approach to 
Columbia from that direction ; and in addition to the regular 
garrison, there was at Columbia a brigade of Ruger's division 
of the Twenty-third Corps. The two remaining brigades of 
Ruger's division, then at Johnsonville, were ordered to move, 
one by railway around through Nashville to Columbia, the 
other by road via Waverley to Centreville, and occupy the 
crossings of Duck River near Columbia, Williamsport; Gordon's 
Ferry, and Centre\ille. About five thousand men belonging to 
Sherman's column had collected at Chattanooga, comprising 
convalescents and furloughed men returning to their regiments. 
These men had been organized into brigades, to be made 
available at such points as they might be needed. Thomas 
had also been re-enforced by twenty new one-year regiments, 
most of which, however, were absorbed in replacing old regi- 
ments whose terms of service had expired. 

On the 23d, in accordance with dii-ections previously given 
him. General R. S. Granger commenced withdrawing the 
garrisons from Athens, Decatur, and Huntsville, AlabaDia, and 



THE END OF HOOD. 303 

moved off towards Stevenson, sending five new regiments of 
that force to Murfreesboro', and retaining at Stevenson tlie 
original troops of his command. This movement was rapidly 
made by rail, and without opposition on the part of the enemy. 

The same night General Schofield evacuated Pulasld, and 
reached Columbia on the 24th. The commanding officer at 
JohnsonviUe was directed to evacuate that post and retire to 
Clarksville. During the 24th and 25th, the enemy skirmished 
with General Schofield's troops at Columbia, and on the morn- 
ing of the 26th his infantry came up and pressed Schofield's 
line strongly during that day and the 27th, but without assault- 
ing. As the enemy's movements showed an undoubted inten- 
tion to cross, General Schofield withdrew to the north bank of 
Duck Kiver, during the night of the 27th. Two divisions of 
the Twenty-third Corps were placed in line in front of the 
town, holding all the crossings in its vicinity ; while Stanley's 
fourth corps, posted in reserve on the Franklin pike, was held 
in readiness to repel any vigorous attempt the enemy should 
make to force a passage ; and the cavalry, under AVilson, held 
the crossings above those guarded by the infantry. 

About 2 A. M. on the 29th, the enemy succeeded in pressing 
back General "Wilson's cavah-y, and effected a crossing on the 
Lewisburg pike : at a later hour part of his infantry crossed at 
Huey's MiUs, six miles above Columbia. Communication with 
the cavalry having been interrupted, and the fine of retreat 
towards Franklin being threatened. General Schofield made 
preparations to withdraw to Franklin. General Stanley, with 
one division of his Fourth Corps, was sent to Spring Hill, fifteen 
miles north of Columbia, to cover the trains and hold the road 
open for the passage of the main force ; and dispositions were 
made, preparatory to a withdrawal, to meet any attack coming 
from the direction of Huey's Mills. General Stanley reached 
Spring Hill just in time to di'ive off the enemy's cavalry and 
save the trains; but he was afterwards attacked by the 
enemy's infantry and cavalry combined, who nearly succeeded 
in dislodging liim from the position. Although not attacked 
fi'om the direction of Huey's Mills, General Schofield was 



304: SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

busily occupied all day at Columbia resisting tlie enemy's 
attempts to cross Duck Eiver, wliicli lie successfully accom- 
plished, repulsing tlie enemy many times with heavy loss. 
Giving directions for the withdrawal of the troops as soon as 
covered by the darkness, at a late hour in the afternoon Gen- 
eral Schofield, with Piuger's division, started to the relief of 
General Stanley at Spring Hill, and when near that place 
came upon the enemy's cavalry, bivouacking within eight 
hundred yards of the road, but easily drove them off. Post- 
ing a brigade to hold the pike at this point, General Schofield, 
with Euger's division, pushed on to Thompson's Station, three 
miles beyond, where he found the enemy's camp-fires still 
burning, a cavalry force having occupied the place at dark, 
but subsequently disappeared. The withdrawal of the main 
force in front of Columbia was safely effected after dark on 
the 29th ; Spring Hill was passed without molestation about 
midnight, and, making a night march of twentj'-five miles, the 
whole command got into position at Franldin at an early hour 
on the morning of the 30th, the cavalry mo\ing on the Lewis- 
burg pike, on the right or east of the infantry. 

At Franklin, General Schofield formed line of battle on the 
southern edge of the to"s\Ti, and hastened the crossing of the 
trains to the north side of Harpeth Kiver. 

The enemy followed closely after General Schofield's rear- 
guard in the retreat to Franklin, and repeatedly assaulted his 
works until ten o'clock at night ; but Schofield's position 
was excellently chosen, with both flanks resting on the river, 
and his men firmly held their ground, and repulsed every 
attack along the whole line. Our loss was one hundred and 
eighty-nine killed, one thousand and thirty-three wounded, and 
one thousand one hundred and four missing, making an aggre- 
gate of two thousand three hundred and twenty-six. Seven 
hundred and two prisoners were captured, and thirty-three 
stands of colors. Major-General Stanley was severely wounded 
while engaged in rallying a portion of his command which had 
been temporarily overpowered by an overwhelming attack of 
the enemy. The enemy lost seventeen hundred and fifty killed, 



THE END OF HOOD. 305 

three thousand eight hundred wounded, and seven hundred 
and two prisoners, making an aggregate loss to Hood's army 
of six thousand two hundred and fifty-two, among which 
number were six general officers killed, six wounded, and one 
captured. 

On the evacuation of Columbia, General Thomas sent orders 
to General Mikoy, at Tullahoma, to abandon that post and 
retii'e to Murfreesboro', joining forces with General Kousseau 
at the latter place, but to maintain the garrison at the block- 
house at Elk River bridge. NashviUe was placed in a state of 
defence, and the fortifications manned by the garrison, re- 
enforced by a volunteer force which had been previously 
organized into a division under brevet Brigadier-General J. 
L. Donaldson, from the employes of the quartermaster's and 
commissary departments. This latter force, aided by rail- 
way employes, the whole under the direction of Brigadier- 
General Tower, worked assiduously to construct additional 
defences. Major-General Steedman, with the five thousand 
men isolated from General Sherman's column, and a brigade 
of colored troops, started from Chattanooga by rail on the 
29th November, and reached Cowan on the morning of the 
30th, where orders were sent him to proceed direct to Kash- 
ville. At an early hour on the morning of the 30th the advance 
of Major-General A. J. Smith's command arrived at Nashville 
by transports from St. Louis. Thus, General Thomas had 
now an infantry force nearly equal to that of the enemy, 
though still outnumbered in effective cavalry ; but as soon as 
a few thousand of the latter arm could be mounted he would 
be in a condition to take the field offensively and dispute the 
possession of Tennessee with Hood's army. 

Not willing to risk a renewal of the battle on the morrow, 
and having accomplished the object of the day's operations, 
namely, to cover the withdrawal of his trains, General Scho- 
field, by direction of General Thomas, fell back during the 
night to Nashville, and formed line of battle on the surround- 
ing heights on the 1st of December, connecting with the rest 
of the army , A. J. Smith's corps occupying the right, resting 

20 



306 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

on tlie Cumberland River, below the city ; the Fourth Corps, 
temporarily commanded by Brigadier-General Thomas J. 
Wood, in consequence of General Stanley's wound, the centre ; 
and Schofield's twenty-third corps the left, extending to the 
Nolensville pike. The cavalry under General Wilson took 
post on the left of Schofield, thus securing the interval between 
that flank and the river above the city. 

General Steedman's troops reached Nashville on the even- 
ing of the 1st, and on the 3d, when the cavalry was moved 
to the north side of the river at Edgefield, occupied the spaco 
on the left of the line vacated by its withdrawal. 

On the morning of the 4th, after skirmishing during the two 
preceding days, the enemy succeeded in gaining a position 
with its saUent on the summit of Montgomery Hill, within six 
hundred yards of the Union centre, his main line occupying 
the high ground on the southeast side of Brown's Creek, and 
extending fi-om the Nolensville pike, on the enemy's extreme 
right, across the Franklin and Granny White's roads, in a 
westerly direction to the hills south and southwest of Richland 
Creek, and down that creek to the Hillsboro' road, with cavalry 
extending from both flanks to the river. 

Between this time and the 7th of December, the enemy, with 
one division each fi'om Cheatham's and Lee's cor2:)S, and two 
thousand five hundred of Forrest's cavalry, attempted to take 
the blockhouse at the railway crossing of Overall's Creek, 
and Fort Rosecrans at Murfi-eesboro', but were repulsed 
with loss by Generals Mih-oy and Rousseau, commanding the 
garrisons. 

Buford's Confederate cavalry entered Murfreesboro,' but was 
speedily driven out by a regiment of infantry and a section of 
artillery, and on retiring moved northward to Lebanon and 
along the south bank of the Cumberland, threatening to cross 
to the north side of the river and interrupt the railway com- 
munication with Louisville, at that time the only source of 
supplies for Thomas' army, the river below Nashville being 
blockaded by batteries along the shore. The gunboa-ts under 
Lieutenant-Commanding Le Roy Fitch patrolled the Cumber- 



THE END OF HOOD. 307 

land above and below Naslnille, and prevented the enemy 
from crossing. General Wilson sent a cavalry force to Gallatin 
to guard the country in that vicinity. 

The position of Hood's army around Nashville remained 
unchanged, and nothing of importance occurred from the 3d to 
the 15th of December, both armies being ice-bound during the 
latter part of the ti'ne. In the mean while Thomas was pre- 
paring to take the offensive without delay ; the cavalry was 
being remounted and new transportation furnished. 

On the 14th, Thomas called together his corps commanders, 
announced his intention of attacking on the morrow, should 
the weather prove propitious, and explained his plan of opera- 
tions. A. J. Smith, holding the right, was to form on the 
Harding road and make a vigorous attack on the enemy's left, 
supported by three divisions of Wilson's cavahy, ready to 
assail the enemy as occasion might serve. Wood, with the 
Fourth Corps, leaving a strong skii*mish line on Laurens' Hill, 
was to form on the Hillsboro' road, supporting Smith's left, 
and act against the left and rear of the enemy's advanced post 
on Montgomery Hill. Schofield was to be in reserve, covering 
Wood's left. Steedman's troops from Chattanooga, the regular 
garrison of Nashville, under Brigadier-General Miller, and the 
quartermaster's employes, under Brevet Brigadier-General 
Donaldson, were to hold the interior line constituting the im- 
mediate defences of the city, the whole under command of 
Major-General Steedman. 

On the appointed day, every thing being favorable, the army 
was formed and ready at an early hour to carry out this jjlan. 
The formation of the troops was partially concealed from the 
enemy by the broken nature of the ground, as also by a dense 
fog, which only lifted towards noon. The enemy was ap- 
parently totally unaware of any intention on the part of 
Thomas to attack his position, and especially did not seem 
to expect any movement against his left. 

General Steedman had, on the previous evening, made a 
heavy demonstration against the enemy's right, east of the 
NolensviUe pike, succeeding in attracting the enemy's attention 



308 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

to that part of his line and inducing him to draw re-enforce- 
ments fi'om his centre and left. As soon as Steedman had com- 
pleted this movement, Smith and Wilson moved out along the 
Harding pike, and commenced the grand movement of the day 
by wheeling to the left and advancing against the enemy's 
position across the Harding and Hillsboro' roads. Johnson's 
division of cavalry was sent at the same time to look after a 
battery of the enemy's on the Cumberland Biver, at Bell's 
Landing, eight miles below Nashville. The remainder of Gen- 
eral Wilson's command. Hatch's division leading and Knipe in 
reserve, moving on the right of A. J. Smith, first struck the 
enemy along Richland Creek, near Harding's house, and rap- 
idly drove him back, capturing a number of prisoners ; and 
continuing to advance, while sHghtly swinging to the left, came 
upon a redoubt containing four guns, which was splendidly 
carried by assault at one P. M. by a portion of Hatch's division, 
dismounted, and the captured guns turned upon the enemy. A 
second redoubt, stronger than the first, was next assailed and 
carried by the same troops that captured the first position, 
taking four more guns and about three hundred prisoners. 
McArthur's division of A. J. Smith's cori3s, on the left of the 
cavalry, participated in both of the above assaults, and reached 
the position nearly simultaneously. 

Finding General Smith had not taken as much distance to 
the right as he had expected. General Thomas directed Gen- 
eral Schofield to move his Twenty-third Corps to the right of 
General Smith, thereby enabling the cavalry to 02:)erate more 
freely in the enemy's rear. This was rapidly accomphshed by 
General Schofield, and his troops participated in the closing 
operations of the day. 

The Fourth Corps formed on the left of A. J. Smith's corps, 
and as soon as the latter had struck the enemy's flank, as- 
saulted and carried Montgomery Hill, Hood's most advanced 
position, at one P. M., capturing a considerable number of 
prisoners. Connecting with Garrard's division, forming the 
left of Smith's troops, the Fourth Corps continued to advance, 
carried the enemy's entire line in its front by assault, and 



THE END OF HOOD. 309 

captured several pieces of artillery, about five liundred prison- 
ers, and several stands of colors. The enemy was driven out 
of his original line of works and forced back to a new position 
along the base of Harpeth Hills, still holding his hue of retreat 
to Franklin by the main road through Brentwood and by the 
Granny White road. 

At nightfall. General Thomas readjusted his line parallel to 
and east of the Hillsboro' road ; Schofield's command on the 
right. Smith's in the centre, and Wood's on the left, with the 
cavalry on the right of Schofield ; Steedman holding the 
position he had gained early in the morning. 

During the day sixteen pieces of artillery and twelve hun- 
dred prisoners were captiu'ed. The enemy was forced back 
at aU points with heavy loss, while the Union casualties were 
unusually hght. The behavior of Thomas' troops was un- 
surpassed for steadiness and alacrity in every movement. 

The boastful invasion of Tennessee was ended. In the 
morning nothing would remain for Hood but flight. 

The whole command bivouacked in line of battle durmg the 
night on the ground occupied at dark, while preparations 
were made to renew the battle at an early hour on the 
morrow. 

At six A. M. on the 10th, Wood's corps pressed back the 
enemy's skirmishers across the Franklin road to the eastward 
of it, and then swinging slightly to the right, advanced due 
south from Nashville, driving the enemy before him until he 
came upon a new main line of works constructed during the 
night, on Overton's Hill, about five miles south of the city 
and east of the Franklin road. General Steedman moved out 
from Nashville by the Nolensville pike, and formed his com- 
mand on the left of General Wood, efi"ectually securing the 
latter's left flank, and made preparations to co-operate in the 
movements of the day. A. J. Smith's corps moved on the 
right of the Fourth Corps, and estabHshing connection with it, 
completed the new Hne of battle. General Schofield's troops 
remained in the position taken up by them at dark on the day 
previous, facing eastward and towards the enemy's left flank, 



310 SHERMAN AND fflS CAJNIPAIGNS. 

the line of the corps running perpendicular to that of Smith's 
corps. General Wilson's cavalry, which had rested for the 
night at the six-mile post on the Hillsboro' road, was dis- 
mounted and formed on the right of Schofield's command, and 
bj noon of the 16th had succeeded in gaining the enemy's 
rear, and stretched across the Granny Wliite pike, one of the 
two outlets towards Franklin. 

As soon as these dispositions were completed, and ha"ving 
visited the different commands. General Thomas gave direc- 
tions that the movement against the enemy's left flank should 
be continued. The entire line approached to within six hun- 
dred yards of the enemy at all points. His centre was weak 
as comj)ared with his right at Overton's Hill, or his left on 
the hills bordering the Granny "White road ; but still General 
Thomas had h(ipes of gaining his rear and cutting off his 
retreat from Franklin, 

About three P. M., Post's brigade of Wood's corps, supported 
by Streight's brigade, was ordered by General Wood to 
assault Overton's Hill. This intention was communicated to 
General Steedman, who ordered the brigade of colored troops 
commanded by Colonel Morgan, Fourteenth United States 
colored troops, to co-operate. The ground on which the two 
assaulting columns formed being open and exposed to the en- 
emy's view, he was enabled to draw re-enforcements from his 
left and centre to the threatened points. The assault was 
made, and received by the enemy with a tremendous fire of 
grape, canister, and musketry, the Union troops moving 
steadily onward up the hill until near the crest, when the 
reserves of the enemy rose and poured into the assaulting 
column a most destructive fire, causing it first to waver and 
then to fall back, leaving dead and wounded, black and white 
Indiscriminately mingled, lying amid the abattis. General 
Wood at once reformed his command in the position it had 
previously occupied, preparatory to a renewal of the assault. 

Immediately following the efiort of the Fourth Corps, Gen- 
erals Smith's and Schofield's commands moved against the 
enemy's works in theii* respective fronts, carrying all before 



THE END OF HOOD. 311 

tliem, breaking his lines in a dozen places, and capturing all 
of his artillery and thousands of prisoners, among the latter 
four general officers. The Union loss was scarcely mention- 
able. All of the enemy that did escape were pursued over 
the top of Brentwood and Harpeth Hills. General Wilson's 
cavalry dismounted, attacked the enemy simultaneously with 
Schofield and Smith, striking him in reverse, and gainmg firm 
possession of the Granny White pike, thus cut off his retreat 
by that route. Wood's and Steedman's troops hearing the 
shouts of victory coming from the right, rushed impetuously 
forward to renew the assault on Overton's Hill, and although 
meeting a very heavy fire, the onset was irresistible. The 
artillery and innumerable prisoners fell into our hands. The 
enemy, hopelessly broken, fled m confusion through the Brent- 
wood pass, the Fourth Corps in a close pursuit for several 
miles, when darkness closed the scene, and the troops rested 
from their labors. 

As the Fourth Corps pursued the enemy on the Franklin 
pike. General Wilson hastily mounted Knipe's and Hatch's 
divisions, and dii'ected them to pursue along the Granny 
White pike and endeavor to reach Franldin in advance of the 
enemy. After proceeding about a mile they came upon the 
enemy's cavalry under Chalmers, posted across the road and 
behind barricades. The position was charged and carried by 
the Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry, Colonel Spalding, scattering 
the enemy in all directions, and capturing quite a number of 
prisoners, among them Brigadier-General E. W. Bucker. 

During the two days' operations there were four thousand 
four hundred and sixty-two prisoners captured, including two 
hundred and eighty-seven officers of all grades fi'om that of 
major-general, fifty-three pieces of artillery, and thousands of 
small-arms. The enemy abandoned on the field all of his 
dead and wounded. 

Wilson's cavahy, closely followed by Woods' corps, and by 
easy marches by Smith and Schofield, pursued the flying and 
demoralized remnants of Hood's army across the Harpeth 
Eiver, Eutherford's Creek, and Duck Biver, all much swollen 



312 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAIMPAIGNS. 

by heavy rains and very difficult to cross, and only discontinued 
the pursuit on the 29th of December, when it was ascertained 
by General Thomas that, aided by these obstructions to our 
movement, and by the vigorous resistance of his rear-guard 
under Forrest, Hood had successfully recrossed the Tennessee 
at Bainbridge. 

" With the exception of his rear-guard," says Thomas, " his 
army had become a disheartened and disorganized rabble of 
half-armed and barefooted men, who sought every opportunity 
to fall out by the wayside and desert their cause, to put an end 
to their sufferings." 

Thus ended Hood. A week before, the victorious columns 
of the army he had set out to destroy entered Savannah. 
Sherman's army passed on to future and final victories : 
Hood's, as an organized force, disappears from history. 

When Jefferson Davis ordered Hood to destroy the rail- 
ways leading north and invade Tennessee, and assured his fol- 
lowers that in thirty days the Yankee invader would be driven 
out of Georgia, he had counted, with a mind obscured by long 
concentrated hate, upon Sherman's being compelled to follow 
Hood. " If Hood will go into Tennessee," Sherman had ex- 
claimed, halting at the last stage of his northward march, " I 
^vill give him his rations." And so saying, he changed front to 
the rear and marched down to the sea. He knew that Davis 
had thus thrown away the last chance of success, the last 
hope even of prolonging the war, and for the phantom of an 
invasion had exchanged the controlling advantage of interior 
lines. 

In order that the Union arms should profit by this advan- 
tage, however, it was an essential condition that Hood should 
be held in check. To this end Sherman left behind him an 
equal army and Major-General Thomas. Slowly and doggedly 
retu'ing with inferior numbers, while waiting for the re-en- 
forcements which were to render them equal to the force of 
the enemy, and drawing Hood after him far beyond the barrier 
of the Tennessee, Thomas saved his concentration by Scho- 
field's masterly battle of Franldin, and gathering up his force 



THE END OF HOOD. 313 

and completing his preparations with such dehberation that it 
seemed to many the hour for action would never come, in the 
full time he hurled his irresistible blow squarely against the 
weak front of the enemy and crushed it. Then the machinery 
so carefully studied and thoroughly organized seized the frag- 
ments and ground them to irrecoverable atoms. 



314 SHERMAJSf AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE XXV. 

SAVANNAH. 

While in Savannah, General Sherman received a visit from 
the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, and had the satisfaction of 
obtaining the promotions he had recommended on his subordi- 
nate commanders. 

General Sherman placed General Geary in temporary com- 
mand of the city of Savannah, and directing him to restore and 
preserve order and quiet, adopted at the same time a policy 
of conciliation and justice which soon bore its fruits in the 
altered tone of the former adherents of the Confederate cause. 
The mayor, R. D. Arnold, who but a short time before had 
called upon the inhabitants to arm and go to the trenches to 
defend their city against the invader, now invoked the citizens 
to recognize the existing condition of affairs and to yield a 
ready obedience to the actual authorities. The mayor was 
continued in the exercise of his functions, so far as they were 
exclusively connected with persons not in the military or naval 
service. 

A large public meeting of the citizens was held, at which 
Mayor Arnold's views were substantially adopted and Governor 
Brown requested to take measures for restoring the State to 
the Union. A National Bank was estabhshed, and active 
measures taken to resume trade with the North and foreign 
nations so soon as the military restrictions should be removed. 
Divine service was resumed in the churches, and soon Savan- 
nah was more tranquil than it had been at any time since its 
capture was first threatened in 1862. 



SAVANNAH. 315 

On the 14tli of January, General Slierman issued the follow- 
ing orders in regard to internal trade, the conduct of the 
citizens, and the outrages of the Confederate guerrillas : — 

" It being represented that the Confederate army and armed 
bands of robbers, acting professedly under the authority of the 
Confederate government, are harassing the people of Georgia 
and endeavoring to intimidate them in the efforts they are 
making to secure to themselves provisions, clothing, security 
to life and j)roperty, and the restoration of law and good 
government in the State, it is hereby ordered and made 
public : — 

" I. That the farmers of Georgia may bring into Savannah, 
Fernandina or Jacksonville, Florida, marketing such as beef, 
pork, mutton, vegetables of any kind, fish, etc., as well as 
cotton in small quantities, and seU the same in open market, 
except the cotton, which must be sold by or through the 
treasury agents, and may invest the proceeds in family stores, 
such as bacon and flour, in any reasonable quantities, groceries, 
shoes, and clothing, and articles not contraband of war, and 
carry the same back to their families. No trade-stores will be 
attempted in the interior, or stocks of goods sold for them, 
but families may club together for mutual assistance and pro- 
tection in coming and going. 

" II. The people are encouraged to meet together in peace- 
ful assemblages to discuss measures looking to their safety and 
good government, and the restoration of State and national 
authority, and will be protected by the national army when so 
doing ; and all peaceable inhabitants who satisfy the command- 
ing officers that they are earnestly laboring to that end, must 
not only be left undisturbed in property and person, but must 
be protected as far as possible consistent with the military 
operations. If any farmer or peaceful inhabitant is molested 
by the enemy, viz., the Confederate army of guerrillas, because 
of his friendship to the National Government, the perpetrator, 
if caught, will be summarily iDunished, or his family made to 
suffer for the outrage ; but if the crime cannot be traced to the 



316 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

actual party, tlien retaliation will be made on the adlierents to 
tlie cause of tlie rebellion. Should a Union man be murdered, 
then a rebel selected by lot will be shot ; or if a Union family 
be persecuted on account of the cause, a rebel family will be 
banished to a foreign land. In aggravated cases, retaliation 
will extend as high as five for one. All commanding officers 
will act promptly in such cases, and report their action after 
the retahation is done." 

A large delegation of colored men called upon the Secretary 
of War, Mr. Stanton, to represent their views as to the con- 
dition and requirements of their race. Twenty of the number 
were clergymen of various denominations. In the presence of 
General Sherman and the acting adjutant-general of the army, 
Brevet Brigadier-General E. D. Townsend, the secretary put 
a number of questions to them, in order to develop the extent 
of theu' knowledge and comprehension of their legal and moral 
rights and duties under the existing state of affairs. These 
questions were answered with great clearness and force by the 
Reverend Garrison Frazier, one of the number. General 
Sherman having left the room for the purpose, the secretary 
inquii'ed their opinion of him. Mr. Frazier replied : — 

" We looked upon General Sherman prior to his arrival as a 
man m the providence of God specially set apart to accomplish 
this work, and we unanimously feel inexpressible gratitude to 
him, looking upon him as a man that should be honored for 
the faithful performance of his duty. Some of us called on 
him immediately upon his arrival, and it is probable he would 
not meet the secretary with more courtesy than he met us. 
His conduct and deportment towards us characterized him as 
a friend and a gentleman. We have confidence in General 
Sherman, and think whatever concerns us could not be under 
better management." 

Immediately afterwards, with the approval of the secretary. 
General Sherman issued the following orders, devoting the 



SAVANNAH. 317 

abandoned sea-islands and rice-fields to the exclusive use of 
the freedmen : — 

" I. The islands from Charleston south, the abandoned rice- 
fields along the rivers for thu-ty miles back fi'om the sea, and 
the country bordering the St. John's Eiver, Florida, are re- 
served and set apart for the settlement of the negToes now 
made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the 
President of the United States. 

"II. At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, 
St. Augustine, and Jacksonville the blacks may remain in their 
chosen or accustomed vocations ; but on the islands, and in 
the settlements hereafter to be established, no white person 
whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for 
duty, will be permitted to reside, and the sole and exclusive 
management of affairs will be left to the fi^eed people them- 
selves, subject only to the United States mihtary authority, 
and the acts of Congress. By the laws of war and orders of 
the President of the United States, the negro is free, and must 
be dealt with as such. He cannot be subjected to conscription 
or forced into mihtary service, save by the written orders of the 
highest mihtary authority of the department, under such regula- 
tions as the President or Congress may prescribe ; domestic 
servants, blacksmiths, carj^enters, and other mechanics will be 
free to select their own work and residence ; but the young 
and able-bodied negroes must be encouraged to enlist as sol- 
diers in the service of the United States, to contribute their 
share towards maintaining their own fi'eedom, and securing 
their rights as citizens of the United States. 

" Negroes so enlisted will be organized into companies, bat- 
tahons, and regiments under the orders of the United States 
mihtary authorities, and will be paid, fed, and clothed accord- 
ing to law. The bounties paid on enlistment may, with the 
consent of the recruit, go to assist his family and settlement in 
procuring agricultural implements, seed, tools, boats, clothing, 
and other articles necessary for their hvelihood. 

" III. Whenever three respectable negroes, heads of families, 



318 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

sliall desire to settle on lands, and shall Lave selected for that 
purpose an island or a locality clearly defined within the lim- 
its above designated, the inspector of settlements and planta- 
tions will himself, or by such subordinate ofiicer as he may 
appoint, give them a license to settle such island or district, 
and afford them such assistance as he can to enable them to 
establish a peaceable agricultural settlement. The three par- 
ties named will subdivide the land, under the supervision of 
the inspector, among themselves and such others as may 
choose to settle near them, so that each family shall have a 
plot of not more than forty acres of tillable ground, and, 
when it borders on some water-channel, with not more than 
eight hundred feet water-front, in the possession of which land 
the mihtary authorities will afford them protection until such 
time as they can protect themselves, or until CongTess shall 
regulate their title. 

" The quartermaster may, on the requisition of the inspector 
of settlements and plantations, place at the disposal of the in- 
spector one or more of the captured steamers to ply between 
the settlements and one or more of the commercial points 
heretofore named in orders, to afford the settlers the opportu- 
nity to supply their necessary wants, and to sell the products 
of their land and labor. 

" IV. Whenever a negro has enlisted in the military service 
of the United States, he may locate his family in any one of 
the settlements at pleasure, and acquhe a homestead and all 
other rights and privileges of a settler as though present in 
person. 

" In like manner, negroes may settle their families and engage 
on board the gunboats, or in fishing, or in the navigation of 
the inland waters, without losing any claim to land or other ad- 
vantages derived from this system. But no one, unless an 
actual settler as above defined, or unless absent on Govern- 
ment service, wiU be entitled to claim any right to land or 
property in any settlement by virtue of these orders. 

" V. In order to carry out this system of settlement, a gen- 
eral officer will be detailed as inspector of settlements and 



SAVANNAH. 319 

plantations, whose duty it shall be to visit the settlements to 
regulate their poHce and general management, and who will 
furnish personally to each head of a family, subject to the ap- 
proval of the President of the United States, a possessory title 
in writing, giving, as near as possible, the description of boun- 
daries, and who shall adjust all claims or conflicts that may 
arise under the same, subject to the like approval, treating 
such titles altogether as possessory. The same general officer 
will also be charged with the enhstment and organization of 
the negro recruits, and protecting their interests while absent 
from their settlements, and will be governed by the rules and 
regulations prescribed by the War Department for such pur- 
poses." 

On the 26th of December, he issued the following orders in 
regard to the government of the city of Savannah during its 
occupancy by the army : — 

" The city of Savannah and surrounding country will be 
held as a mihtary post and adapted to future military uses, 
but as it contains a population of some twenty thousand peo- 
ple who must be provided for, and as other citizens may come, 
it is proper to lay down certain general prmciples, that all 
within its military jurisdiction may understand their relative 
duties and obligations. 

" I. During war, the mihtary is superior to civil authority, 
and where interests clash, the civil must give way : yet, where 
there is no conflict, every encouragement should be given to 
well-disposed and peaceful inhabitants to resume their usual 
pursuits. Famihes should be disturbed as little as possible 
in their residences, and tradesmen allowed the free use of 
their shops, tools, etc. Churches, schools, all places of amuse- 
ment and recreation, should be encouraged, and streets and 
roads made perfectly safe to persons in their usual pursuits. 
Passes should not be exacted within the line of outer pickets ; 
but if any person shall abuse these privileges by communi- 
cating with the enemy, or doing any act of hostihty to tho 



320 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Government of the United States, he or she will be punished 
with the utmost rigor of the law. 

" Commerce with the outer world will be resumed to an 
extent commensurate with the wants of the citizens, governed 
by the restrictions and rules of the Treasury Department. 

" II. The chief quartermaster and commissary of the army 
may give suitable employment to the people, white and black, 
or transport them to such points as they choose, where em- 
ployment may be had, and may extend temporary rehef in the 
way of pro^nsions and vacant houses to the worthy and needy, 
until such time as they can help themselves. They will se- 
lect, first, the buildings for the necessary uses of the army ; 
next, a sufficient number of stores to be turned over to the 
treasury agent for trade-stores. AU vacant storehouses or 
dwellings, and all buildings belonging to absent rebels, will 
be construed and used as belonging to the United States until 
such times as their titles can be settled by the courts of the 
United States. 

" III. The mayor and city council of Savannah will continue 
and exercise their functions as such, and will, in concert "vvith 
the commanding officer of the post and chief quartermaster, 
see that the fire companies are kept in organization, the 
streets cleaned and Hghted, and keep up a good understand- 
ing between the citizens and soldiers. They will ascertain 
and rej)ort to the chief commissary of subsistence, as soon as 
possible, the names and number of worthy famihes that need 
assistance and support. 

" The mayor wiU forthwith give public notice that the time 
has come when all must choose their course, namely, to re- 
main within our lines and conduct themselves as good citi- 
zens, or depart in peace. He will ascertain the names of all 
who choose to leave Savannah, and report their names and 
residence to the chief quartermaster, that measures may be 
taken to transport them beyond the lines. 

" lY. Not more than two newspapers will be pubHshed in 
Savannah, and their editors and proprietors will be held to 
the strictest accountability, and wiU be punished severely, iu 



SAVANNAH. 321 

person and property, for any libellous publication, miscliievous 
matter, premature news, exaggerated statements, or any com- 
ments whatever upon tlie acts of the constituted authorities : 
they will be held accountable even for such articles though 
copied from other papers." 

On the 15th of January, Sherman estabUshed the following 
trade regulations for Savannah : — 

" The Department of the South having been placed within 
the sphere of this command, and it being highly desirable 
that a uniform policy prevail touching commerce and inter- 
course with the inhabitants of the South, the followins; cceneral 
rules and principles will be adhered to, unless modified by 
law or the orders of the War Department : 

" I. Commerce with foreign nations cannot be permitted or 
undertaken until the national authority is estabhshed to an 
extent that will give the necessary courts and officers to con- 
trol and manage such matters. Trade will be confined to a 
mere barter and sale proportioned to the necessary wants of 
the army, and of the inhabitants dependent on it for the 
necessaries of life ; and even that trade must be kept subject 
to strict military control or surveillance. 

"II. Trade-stores will be permitted at Beaufort, Hilton 
Head, Savannah, Feruandina, St. Augustine, and Jackson- 
ville, in all articles of food and clothing, groceries, ladies' and 
children's goods generally, and articles not contraband of 
war. 

" III. To trade is a privilege, and no person will be allowed 
to buy and sell for profit unless he be a citizen of the United 
States, and subscribe to any legal oath or obligation that is 
or may be prescribed by law ; and at points threatened by an 
enemy, the officer commanding may further exact as a condi- 
tion, that the trader shall liimseK engage to serve in some 
mihtary capacity, to aid in defence of the place. 

" IV. Persons desiring to trade will apply to the command- 
ing officer of the post, and obtain his written consent, spccify- 

21 



322 SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS 

ing tlie kind, nature, and extent of the trade, and wlien he 
requires importations from Northern cities, he will, in like 
manner, apply for his permit. The commanding officer of the 
post may appoint some good officer to super'sase these mat- 
ters, who will frequently inspect the stores, and when there is 
not sufficient competition, will fix the prices of sale. These 
stores will, in like manner, be subject to the supervision of the 
commanding general of the Department of the South, by him- 
self or an inspector-general. 

" V. In order that purchases may be made with economy, 
the commanding officer of each post will make reports of his 
action in regard to trade, with the names of traders, amounts 
of goods desired for sale, etc., to the commanding geueral of 
the department, who \\all, in like manner, make full report to 
the secretary of the United States treasury, to the end that he 
may instruct the collectors of ports, from which shipments are 
expected, as to the necessary permits and clearances. It 
being utterly impracticable that a general commanding mili- 
tary ojDerations should give his personal attention to such 
matters, it is desirable that as much power as possible should 
be delegated to post commanders, and they should be held to 
the strictest account that no trade is permitted injurious to 
the miHtary interests of the United States. 

"YI. Sales of cotton will be restricted absolutely to the 
United States treasury agents, and no title in cotton or bill of 
sale wiU be respected until after the cotton is sold at New 
York. Country people having smaU lots of cotton are per- 
mitted to bring the same in to be exchanged for food and 
clothing for their families. The quartermaster will set aside a 
store or warehouse, to which each wagon bearing cotton will, 
after entering the military lines, proceed direct, where an 
agent of the Treasury Department will receive and weigh the 
same, and pay for it the price fixed in the eighth section of 
the Act of Congress, approved July 2, 1864 — namely, three- 
fourths the value of cotton as quoted in the New York 
market ; and the secretary of the treasury is hereby requested 
to make appointments of agents to carry out the provisions 



SAVANNAH. 326 

of said act at tlie posts of Hilton Head, Savannali, Fernandina, 
and Jacksonville. 

"VII. In order that tlie duties hereby imposed on com- 
manding olSicers of posts may not be neglected or slighted by 
the changes incident to rank and changes of troops, the com- 
manding general of the Department of the South will appoint 
a special officer to command at each of said posts, with a small 
garrison, not to be changed without his order ; and when 
other troops, commanded by a senior, are added or arrive, the 
command of the post will not change, but the additional 
troops will be encamped near by and act according to special 
instructions." 

In reply to a gentleman who addressed him a note asking 
his views as to the present relations of Georgia to the Federal 
Government, Sherman wrote, on the 8th of January : 

"Deak Sik — Yours of the 3d instant is received, and in 
answer to your inquiries, I beg to state I am merely a mihtary 
commander, and act only in that capacity ; nor can I give any 
assurances or pledges affecting civil matters in the future. 
They will be adjusted by Congress when Georgia is again 
represented there as of old. 

" Georgia is not out of the Union, and therefore the talk of 
' reconstruction' appears to me inappropriate. Some of the 
people have been and stUl are in a state of revolt ; and as long 
as they remain armed and organized, the United States must 
pursue them with armies, and deal with them according to 
military law. But as soon as they break up their armed 
organizations and return to their homes, I take it they will be 
dealt with by the civil courts. Some of the rebels in Georgia, 
in my judgment, deserve death, because they have committed 
murder, and other crimes, which are punished with death by 
all civHized governments on earth. I think this was the course 
indicated by General Washington, in reference to the "Whisky 
Insurrection, and a like principle seemed to be recognized at 
the time of the .Burr conspiracy. 



324 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" As to tlie Union of tlie States under our Government, we 
have the high authority of General Washington, who bade us 
be jealous and careful of it ; and the still more emphatic words 
of General Jackson, ' The Federal Union, it must and shall be 
preserved.' Certainly, Georgians cannot question the authority 
of such men, and should not suspect our motives, who are 
simply fulfilling their commands. Wherever necessary, force 
has been used to carry out that end ; and you may rest as- 
sured that the Union will be preserved, cost what it mar. And 
if you are sensible men you will conform to this order of things 
or else migrate to some other country. There is no other 
alternative open to the people of Georgia. 

" My opinion is, that no negotiations are necessary, nor 
commissioners, nor conventions, nor any thing of the kind. 
Whenever the people of Georgia quit rebelhng against their 
Government and elect members of Congress and Senators, and 
these go and take their seats, then the State of Georgia wiE 
have resumed her functions in the Union. 

" These are merely my opinions, but in confirmation of them, 
as I think, the people of Georgia may well consider the follow- 
ing words referring to the people of the rebellious States, which 
I quote from the recent annual message of President Lincoln 
to Congress at its present session : — 

" ' They can at any moment have peace simply by laying 
down their arms and submitting to the national authority 
under the Constitution. After so much, the Government 
would not, if it could, maintain war against them. The loyal 
people would not sustain or allow it. If questions should re- 
main, we would adjust them by the peaceful means of legisla- 
tion, conference, courts, and votes. Operating only in consti- 
tutional and lawful channels, some certain and other possible 
questions are and would be beyond the executive power to 
adjust ; as, for instance, the admission of members into Con- 
gress, and whatever might require the appropriation of 
money.' 

"The President then alludes to the general pardon .-Did 
amnesty offered for more than a year past, upon specified ahd 



SAVANNAH. 325 

more liberal terms, to all except certain designated classes, 
even these being ' still within contemplation of special 
clemency,' and adds : 

" ' It is still so open to all, but the time may come when 
pubUc duty shall demand that it be closed, and that in Ueu 
more vigorous measures than heretofore shall be adopted.' 

" It seems to me that it is time for the people of Georgia to 
act for themselves, and return, in time, to their duty to the 
Government of their fathers." 

This letter, which was immediately made pubKc through 
the local newspapers, was shown by General Sherman, before 
its pubUcation, to the secretary of war, who read and returned 
it, simply remarking that, like all the general's letters, it was 
sufficiently emphatic, and not likely to be misunderstood. 
The views contained in it afterwards assumed a special im- 
portance, arising out of this circumstance. 

To the secretary of war he wrote on the 2d of January, 
1865 :— 

" Sir — I have just received from Lieutenant-General Grant 
a copy of that part of your telegram to him of 26th Decem- 
ber, relating to cotton, a copy of which has been immediately 
furnished to General Eaton, my chief quartermaster, who will 
be strictly governed by it. 

" I had already been approached by all the consuls and 
half the people of Savannah on this cotton question, and my 
invariable answer has been that all the cotton iu Savannah 
was prize of war, and belonged to the United States, and no- 
body should recover a bale of it with my consent ; and that as 
cotton had been one of the chief causes of this war, it should 
help pay its expenses ; that all cotton became tainted with 
treason from the hour the first act of hostility was committed 
against the United States, some time in December, 1860, and 
that no bill of sale subsequent to that date could convey title. 

" My orders were, that an officer of the quartermaster's de- 
partment. United States army, might furnish the holder, 



326 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

agent, or attorney a mere certificate of the fact of seizure, 
"witli description of tlie bales, marks, etc. ; the cotton then to 
be turned over to the agent of the Treasury Department, to 
be shipped to New York for sale. But since the receipt of 
your dispatch, I have ordered General Eaton to make the 
shipment himself to the quartermaster at New York, where 
you can dispose of it at pleasure. I do not think the Treas- 
ury Department ought to bother itself with the prizes or 
captures of war. 

" Mr. Barclay, former consul at New York — representing 
Mr. Molyueus, former consul, but absent since a long time — 
called on me in person with reference to cotton claims by Eng- 
lish subjects. He seemed amazed when I told him I should 
pay no respect to consular certificates, and that in no event 
would I treat an English subject with more favor than one of our 
own deluded citizens ; and that for my part I was unwilling 
to fight for cotton for the benefit of Enghshmen openly en- 
gaged in smuggling arms and munitions of war to kill us ; 
that, on the contrary, it would afford me great satisfaction to 
conduct my army to Nassau and wipe out that nest of pirates. 
I exj^lained to him, however, that I was not a diplomatic 
agent of the General Government of the United States ; but 
that my opinion so frankly expressed was that of a soldier, 
which it would be well for him to heed. It appeared also 
that he owned a plantation on the line of investment to Sa- 
vannah, which, of course, is destroyed, and for which he ex- 
pected me to give him some certificate entitling him to in- 
demnification, which I declined emphatically. 

" I have adopted in Savannah rules concerning property, 
severe but just, founded upon the laws of nations and the 
practice of civilized governments ; and am clearly of opinion 
that we should claim all the belligerent rights over conquered 
countries, that the people may realize the truth that war is no 
child's play. 

" I embrace in this a copy of a letter dated December 31, 
1864, in answer to one fi-om Solomon Cohen, a rich lawyer, to 
General Blair, his personal friend, as follows : — 



SAVANNAH. 327 

" ' Majob-Genekal F. p. Blair, commanding Seventeenth Army Corps : 

" ' General — Tour note, inclosing Mr. Cohen's of this date, is received, and 
I answer frankly, through you, his inquiries. 

" ' First — No one can practise law as an attorney in the United States with- 
out acknowledging the supremacy of our Government. If I am not in error, an 
attorney is as much an officer of the court as the clerk, and it would be a novel 
thing in a Government to have a court to administer law that denied the 
supremacy of the Government itself 

" ' Second — No one will be allowed the privileges of a merchant — or rather, to 
trade is a privilege which no one should seek of the Government, without in 
like manner acknowledging its supremacy. 

" ' Third — If Mr. Cohen remains in Savannah as a denizen, his property, real 
and personal, will not be disturbed, unless its temporary use be nece-^sury for 
the military authorities of the city. The title to property will not be disturbed 
in any event, until adjudicated by the courts of the United States. 

" ' Fourth — If Mr. Cohen leaves Savannah under my Special Order, No. 143, 
it is a public annoimcement that he ' adheres to the enemies of the United 
States,' and all his property becomes forfeited to the United States. But as a 
matter of favor, he will be allowed to carry with him clothing and furniture for 
the use of himself, family, and servants, and will be transported within the 
enemy's lines — but not by way of Port Royal. 

" ' These rules will apply to all parties, and from them no exception will be 
made. 

" ' I have the honor to be, general, your obedient servant, 

" ' W. T. Sherman, 

" 'Major-General.' 

" This letter was in answer to specific inquiries ; it is clear 
and specific, and covers all tlie points, and should I leave 
before mj orders are executed, I will endeavor to impress 
upon my successor, General Foster, their wisdom and pro- 
priety. 

" I hope the course I have taken in these matters will meet 
your api3robation, and that the President will not refund to 
parties claiming cotton or other property without the strong- 
est evidence of loyalty and fi'iendship on the part of the 
claimant, or unless some other positive end is to be gained." 

And again on the 19th : — 

" Sir — When you left Savannah a few days ago, you forgot 
the map which General Geary had prepared for you, showing 
the route by which his division entered the city of Savannah — 



328 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

being the first troops to occupy that city. I now send it to 
you.^ I avail myself of the opportunity also to inclose you 
copies of all my official orders touching trade and intercourse 
with the people of Georgia, as weU as for the establishment of 
the negro settlements. Delegations of the people of Georgia 
continue to come, and I am satisfied a httle judicious hand- 
ling, and by a httle respect being paid to their prejudices, we 
can create a schism in Jeff. Davis' dominions. All that I 
have conversed with realize the truth that slavery-, as an insti- 
tution, is defunct, and the only questions that remain are, 
what disposition shaU be made of the negroes themselves. I 
confess myself unable to offer a complete solution for these 
questions, and prefer to leave it to the slower operations of 
time. We have given the initiative, and can afford to wait 
the working of the experiment. 

"As to trade matters, I also think it is to our interest to 
keep the people somewhat dependent on the articles of com- 
merce to which they have been hitherto accustomed. General 
Grover is now here, and will, I think, be able to manage this 
matter judiciously, and may gradually relax and invite cotton 
to come in in large quantities. 

" But at first we should manifest no undue anxiety on that 
score, for the rebels would at once make use of it as a power 
against us. We should assume a tone of perfect contempt for 
cotton and every thing else, in comparison with the great ob- 
ject of the war — the restoration of the Union, with all its 
rights and powers. If the rebels burn cotton as a war meas- 
ure, they simply play into our hands, by taking away the 
only product of value they now have to exchange in foreign 
ports for war-ships and munitions. By such a course, also, 
they alienate the feelings of the large class of small farmers, 
that look to their little parcels of cotton to exchange for food 
and clothing for their families. I hope the Government will 
not manifest too much anxiety to obtain cotton in large quan- 
tities, and especially that the President will not indorse the 
contracts for the purchase of large quantities of cotton. Sev- 
eral contracts, involving from six to ten thousand bales, in- 



SAVANNAH. 329 

dorsed by Mr. Lincoln, have been shown me, but were not in 
such a form as to amount to an order for me to faciUtate 
their execution. 

" As to Treasury trade-agents, and agents to take charge 
of confiscated and abandoned property, whose salaries depend 
on their fees, I can only say that, as a general riile, they are 
mischievous and disturbing elements to a mihtary govern- 
ment, and it is ahnost impossible for us to study the law and 
regulations so as to understand fully their powers and duties. 
I rather think the quartermaster's department of the army 
could better fulfil all their duties, and accomplish all that is 
aimed at by the law. Yet, on this subject, I will leave Gen- 
erals Foster and Grover to do the best they can." 



330 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

north-w;aed. 

Hood's army being effectually broken up, Tennessee and 
Kentucky being secure, and no considerable force occupying 
tlie Atlantic slope except Lee's army, held at Petersburg by 
Lieutenant-General Grant, the next move for Sherman was 
obAQOusly Northward. His proposal for the march through 
Georgia had looked forward another stej) to this contingency. 
At Savannah, he was accordingly met by instructions from the 
lieutenant-general to embark his army on transports and 
hasten to the James River to participate in the final combina- 
tion for the destrviction of the main army of the rebelHon. 
Upon Sherman's earnest representations of the difficulty of 
moving sixty thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry, with 
their due proportion of artillery, so great a distance by water ; 
of the great length of time that would be consumed in the 
operation ; of the comparative immunity the enemy would 
enjoy in his intermediate combinations ; and finaUy, on his 
assurance that he could place his army at the desired point 
sooner, in better condition, and with more injury to the enemy 
by marching overland ; General Grant consented to this modi- 
fication and gave the necessary orders to Sherman to act upon 
it, and to the other commanders concerned to co-operate with 
him in the manner we shall presently perceive. All the details 
were left entirely to Sherman. 

A division of Emory's nineteenth corps, under Brevet Major- 
General Cuvier Grover, was drawn from Sheridan's Army of 
the Shenandoah, and sent to Savannah as a garrison, and Gen- 
eral Grover was appointed to the command of the city. This 



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NOETHWAED. 331 

division, and the troops previously serving in the Department 
of the South, were placed under the command of Major-Gen- 
eral Foster, the department commander, to whom General 
Sherman imparted the plan of campaign, instructing him to 
follow its successful progress by occupying Charleston and any 
other points along the coast that circumstances might render 
important. This enabled Sherman to take with him the entire 
army with which he had made the campaign through Georgia. 
Sherman determined to make but one stride from Savannah 
to Goldsboro', North Carolina. 

A month was consumed in preparations. By the 15th of 
January, 1865, all was ready, and the movement began. 

In the mean time, Major-General John A. Logan returned 
from the North and resumed the command of the Fifteenth 
Corps, relieving General Osterhaus. 

John Alexander Logan, the eldest son by an American wife 
of Doctor John Logan, a native of Ireland who emigrated to 
Illinois in 1823, was born near Murphysboro', in Jackson 
County, Illinois, on the 9th of February, 1826. His parents 
had eleven children. Until his fourteenth year, in conse- 
quence of the unsettled condition of the State, he enjoyed few 
of the advantages of education. At the breaking out of the 
war Avith Mexico, in 1846, he entered the army as a second- 
lieutenant in the First Eegiment of Illinois Volunteers, and 
served with credit until the peace. In 1848, being then 
twenty-two years of age, he returned to his native State, and 
commenced the study of the law. In November, 1849, he 
was elected clerk of his native county, and held the position 
until 1850. In that year he attended a course of law studies 
at Louisville, and in 1851 received his diploma. Upon his 
return home he at once commenced the j3ractice of his profes- 
sion, with his maternal uncle, Judge Alexander M. Jenkins. 
The practical character of Logan's mind, and his pleasant 
manners, connected with his rare abilities as a read}" speaker, 
soon gained for him great popularity among the voters of his 
county. Success quickly followed. In 1852 he was elected 
prosecuting attorney of the third judicial district, and estab- 



332 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

lished Lis residence at Benton, in Franklin County ; and in 
the autumn of the same year was elected to the State Legis- 
lature, to represent Franklin and Jackson counties. On the 
27th November, 1855, he married, at Shawneetown, Miss Mary 
Cunningham, daughter of John W. Cunningham. In May, 
1856, he was appointed presidential elector for the Ninth Con- 
gressional District on the Democratic ticket, and in that capa- 
city cast his vote for James Buchanan for President, and John 
C. Breckinridge for Yice-President, and the following Novem- 
ber was re-elected to the Legislature. In 1858, as the candi- 
date of the Democratic party, he carried the Ninth Congres- 
sional District for Congress by a large majority over his 
Kepubhcan ojDponent. In 1860 he was re-elected as the 
nominee of the Douglas wing of the same party. 

While occupying his seat in the House of Bepresentatives, 
the battle of Bull Bun was fought, and Logan took part in it 
as a volunteer, shouldering a musket in the ranks of Colonel 
Israel B. Bichardson's Second Michigan regiment. In Sep- 
tember, 1861, he returned home, and b}- his energy, aided by 
his popularity, succeeded in two weeks in raising the Thirty- 
first Begiment of lUinois Volunteers, whereof he was appointed 
colonel on the 18th of that month. On the 7th of November 
he led his regiment, then forming a part of McClernand's bri- 
gade, with conspicuous gallantry in the battle of Belmont, 
where he had his horse shot under him. At Fort Donelson he 
was severely wounded by a musket-baU in the left arm and 
shoulder, and was twice wounded in the thigh ; but remained 
on the field, exhorting his men, until removed by the surgeon. 
On the 5th of March, 1862, he was promoted to be a brigadier- 
general of volunteers ; and returning to the field in Aj^ril, 
shortly after the battle of Shiloh, held command of a brigade 
of McClernand's division in the siege of Corinth. Succeed- 
ing to the command of a division, he participated in General 
Grant's campaign in Northern Mississippi in the winter of 
1862-'63, and was rewarded for his services therein by a commis- 
sion as major-general, dating from the 29th of November, 1862. 
Upon the organization of McPherson's seventeenth army corps, 



NORTHWARD. 333 

in December, 1862, General Logan was assigned to the command 
of its third division, which he led with marked ability and 
bravery throughout the campaign of Vicksburg. After the 
surrender of that stronghold, he obtained a leave of absence, 
visited the North, and made a series of stirring and effective 
speeches in aid of the cause of the war-party in the then 
pending elections, and in bitter denunciation of the peace 
agitators, or " Copperheads." On the 27th of October, 1863, 
he was assigned to the command of the Fifteenth Army Corps, 
rendered vacant by the promotion of General Sherman to the 
command of the Army of the Tennessee, and the temporary 
retirement of General Frank P. Blair to take part in political 
affairs. His military services since that time have already 
been traced in these pages. Suddenly called by the calamitous 
death of its gaUant leader to the command of the Army of the 
Tennessee, at a critical moment in the battle of the 22d of 
July, 1864, Logan threw himself with fire into the action, re- 
established his broken line, and dashing along the front, ex- 
claiming, " McPherson and revenge !" hurled his excited troops 
against the enemy and swept them fi'om the field with terrible 
slaughter. 

His warm, impulsive character gives him a powerful hold 
on the affections of his men, and a high courage and indomi- 
table spirit enable him to lead them to victory. 

Logan is the most notable illustration of the success that 
has attended the efforts of those officers who, entering the 
army from civil life, have been content, instead of grasping at 
once at the highest honors, to learn the duties of their new 
profession in the subordinate grades, and to rise step by step 
according to their talents and experience. Beginning as a 
colonel of volunteers, for which position his Mexican services 
quaUfied him, he successively rose through the command of a 
brigade and division to that of Sherman's old corps, and being 
temporaril}^ placed at the head of a separate army, discharged 
the high responsibihties of that post, at an important period, 
with signal ability. "While others, more ambitious but less 
patient or less deserving, fell fi'om the height which, in a 



334 SHERMAN AND fflS CAMPAIGNS. 

moment of laxity and want of knowledge tliey had been per- 
mitted to attain, Logan mounted steadily. 

Only less remarkable is tlie case of Major-General Blair ; 
but Logan abandoned politics at the outbreak of the war and 
refused to be a candidate for any civil office, while Blair ad- 
hered to his position as a member of the lower House, and 
continued to discharge its duties until Congress interfered by 
a direct legislative prohibition. 

Howard, with Blair's seventeenth corps, embarked on trans- 
ports at Thunderbolt, proceeded to Beaufort, South Carohna, 
and there disembarkhig, struck the Charleston and Savannah 
railway near Pocotaligo station, and effected a lodgment, Leg- 
gett's division driving away the enemy, and established a 
secure depot of supphes at the mouth of Pocotahgo Creek, 
within easy water communication by the Broad River, having 
the main depot at Hilton Head. Logan's fifteenth corps 
moved partly by land and partly by water ; Woods' and Ha- 
zen's divisions following the Seventeenth Corps to Beaufort ; 
John E. Smith's marching by the coast road ; and Corse's, 
cut off by the freshets, being compelled to move with the 
left wing. 

Slocum, with the left wing and Kilpatrick's cavalry, was to 
move on Coosawhatcliie, South Carolina, on the Charleston and 
Savannah railway, and Robertville, on the Columbia road. A 
good pontoon bridge had been thrown across the Savannah 
River, opposite the city, and the Union causeway, leading 
through low rice-fields, had been repaired and corduroyed ; 
but before the time fixed for the movement arrived, the river 
became swollen by heavy rains, so that the pontoons were 
swept away, and the causeway was four feet under water. 

General A. S. WiUiams, with Jackson's and Geary's divisions 
of the Twentieth Corps, crossed the Savannah at Pmysburg, 
and marched to Hardeeville, on the Charleston railway, where 
they were in communication with Howard at Pocotaligo ; but 
the rains presently cut these divisions off fi'om the rest of the 
left wing at Savannah, which was compelled by the freshet to 
seek a crossing higher up at Sister's Ferry, opposite which 



NORTHWARD. 335 

point, on the Carolina side, the two divisions indicated accord- 
ingly directed their course ; while Slocum, with Jefferson C. 
Davis' fourteenth corps, Geary's division of the Twentieth 
Corps, and Corse's division of the Fifteenth Corps, temporarily 
separated from the right wing by the flood, marched up on the 
Georgia side, leaving Savannah on the 26th January. The 
gunboat Pontiac, Lieutenant-Commander S. B. Luce, was de- 
tailed by Admiral DahlgTen to move up to the ferry in ad- 
vance of the troops, and cover the passage. When Slocum at 
length reached the river, he found the bottom three miles in 
widtli, so that it was only on the 7th of February, and with 
great difficulty and labor, that the crossing was completed, 
and the wing concentrated and in full march for the Charleston 
and Augusta railway. Williams, with Jackson's and Ward's 
divisions of the Twentieth Corps, reached the railway at 
Graham's Station, fourteen miles w^est of Branchville, on the 
8th of February, and Slocum, with Davis' fourteenth corps 
and Geary's division, arrived at Blackville, seven miles further 
west, on the 10th. Kilpatrick's cavalry, which was the first of 
this wing to cross at Sister's Ferry, immediately took the ad- 
vance on Blackville, by Barnwell, and kept the extreme left 
flank from this time forward. 

To return to the right wing. On the 19th of January, all 
his preparations being complete, and all his orders for the 
march pubhshed, Sherman instructed his chief quartermaster 
and chief commissary. Brevet Brigadier-Generals L. C. Fasten 
and Amos Beckwith, to fill tlieu* depots at Sister's Ferry and 
Pocotahgo, and then to quit the army, go to Morehead City, 
North Carolina, and stand ready to forward supplies thence to 
Goldsboro' about the 15th of March. 

On the 22d of January, Sherman embarked at Savannah for 
Hilton Head, where he held a conference with Admiral Dahl- 
gren. United States navy, and Major-General Foster, com- 
manding the Department of the South, and next proceeded to 
Beaufort, riding out thence on the 24th to Pocotaligo, where 
the Seventeenth Corps was encamped. On the 25th a demon- 
stration was made against the Combahee Ferry and raiboad 



336 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

bridge across the Salkeliatcliie, to amnse the enemy, wlio liad 
evidently adopted that river as his defensive hne against Sher- 
man's supposed objective, the city of Charleston. The gen- 
eral reconnoitred the line in person, and saw that the heavy 
rains had swollen the river so that water stood in the swamps 
for a breadth of more than a mile, at a depth of from one to 
twenty feet. As he had no intention of approaching Charles- 
ton, a comparatively small force was able, by making a sem- 
blance of preparations to cross, to keep in their front a con- 
siderable force of the enemy disposed to contest the advance 
on Charleston. On the 27th, Sherman rode to the camp of 
General Hatch's division of Foster's command, on the Tuli- 
finny and Coosawhatchie rivers, and directed those places to 
be evacuated. Hatch's di\'ision was then moved to Pocotaligo, 
to keep up the feints already begun, until the right wing should 
move higher up and cross the Salkehatchie about River's or 
Broxton's Bridge. By the 29th of January three divisions 
of the Fifteenth Corps — Woods', Hazen's, and John E. 
Smith's — had closed up at Pocotaligo, and the right wmg 
had loaded its wagons and was ready to start. Sherman 
therefore directed General Howard to move the Seventeenth 
Corps along the Salkehatchie to River's Bridge, and the Fif- 
teenth Corps by Hickory Hill, Loper's Cross-roads, Anglesey 
Post-office, and Beaufort's Bridge, while Hatch's division was 
ordered to remain at Pocotaligo, feigning on the Salkehatchie 
railway bridge and ferry, until the movement should have 
turned the enemy's position, and forced him to fall back be- 
hind the Edisto. 

Blair's seventeenth and Logan's fifteenth corps drew out of 
camp on the 31st of January, but the real march began on the 
1st of February. All the roads northward had for weeks been 
held by Wheeler's cavahy, who had, by details of negro labor- 
ers, felled trees, burned bridges, and made obstructions to im- 
pede our march. But so well organized were the pioneer bat- 
talions, and so strong and intelligent our men, that felled trees 
were removed and bridges rebuilt by the heads of columns 
before the rear could close up. On the 2d of February, 



NORTHWAED. o^^rj 

Logan's fifteenth corps reached Loper's Cross-roads, and 
Blair's seventeenth corps was at River's Bridge. From Loper's 
Cross-roads Sherman communicated with General Slocum, who 
was then still struggling with the floods of the Savannah Biver 
at Sister's Ferry, and instructed him to overtake the right wing 
on the South Carolina railway. General Howard, with the 
right wing, was directed to cross the Salkehatchie, and push 
rapidly for the South Carolina railway at or near Midway. 
The enemy held the Hue of the Salkehatchie in force, having 
infantry and artillery intrenched at Biver's and Beaufort's 
bridges. Blair, with the Seventeenth Corps, was ordered to 
carry Biver's bridge, and Logan, with the Fifteenth Corps, 
Beaufort's bridge. The former joosition was carried promptly 
and skilfully by Mower's and Corse's divisions of the Seven- 
teenth Corps ; the latter under Giles A. Smith, on the 3d of 
February, by crossing the swamp, nearly three miles wide, 
with water varying from knee to shoulder deep. The weather 
was bitter cold. Generals Mower and Smith led their divisions 
in person, on foot, waded the swamp, made a lodgment below 
the bridge, and turned on the rebel brigade which guarded it, 
driving it in confusion and disorder towards Branchville. Our 
casualties were one officer and seventeen men killed, and 
seventy men wounded, who were sent to Focotaligo. The line 
of the Salkehatchie being thus broken, the enemy retreated at 
once behind the Edisto at Branchville, and the whole army 
was pushed rapidly to the South Carohna railway. Blair's 
corps and General Howard in person, at Midway, seven miles 
west of Branchville ; Logan's corps at Bamberg, three miles 
further west ; and at Graham's Station, Blair's seventeenth 
corps, by threatening Branchville, forced the enemy to burn 
the railway bridge and "Walker's bridge below, across the 
Edisto. The whole army was at once set to work to destroy 
railway track. From the 7th to the 10th of February this 
work was thoroughly prosecuted by the Seventeenth Corps 
from the Edisto up to Bamberg, and by the Fifteenth Corps 
from Bamberg up to Blackville. In the mean time. General 
Kilpatrick had brought his cavahy rapidly by Barnwell to 

23 



iJ38 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Blackville, and ]iad turned towards Aiken, witli orders to 
threaten Augusta, but not to draw needlessly into a serious 
battle. This he skiKully accomplished, skirmishing heavily 
with Wheeler's cavalry, first at Blackville and afterwards at 
Williston and Aiken. The left wing being now up, the Twen- 
tieth Corps at Graham's Station and the Fourteenth at Black- 
ville, the destruction of the railway was continued by that wing 
from Blackville up to Windsor. All the army was thus on the 
railway fi'om Midway to Johnson's Station, thereby dividing 
the enemy's forces, which still remained at Branchville and 
Charleston, on the one hand, and Aiken and Augusta, on the 
other. 

The enemy was all this time uncertain as to Sherman's des- 
tination or immediate objective. He might turn on Charles- 
ton, Aiigusta, or Columbia, and at neither, nor at all com- 
bined, had the Confederates an army able to oppose him. 
Hardee was at Charleston, with a force estimated at fifteen 
thousand men, compelled to hold the place until it should be 
untenable, or the object of maintaining it should have passed. 
Wheeler, with that portion of his cavalry so frequently met 
and defeated by Kilpatrick during the Georgia campaign, was 
at and near Columbia, strengthened by Wade Hampton's di- 
vision from Lee's army. Augusta was occupied by the Georgia 
militia. Meanwhile, the remnants of the Confederate Army 
of the Tennessee were beuig hurried East ; but the road from 
Mississippi was a long one, stripped of food for a great 
portion of the roiite, the railways generally useless, and the 
bridges destroyed. To use the figurative expression of the 
soldiers, " A crow could not fly fi'om Atlanta to Savannah 
without a haversack." 



THEOUGH SOUTH CAEOLINA. 339 



CHAPTEE XXVn. 

THROUGH SOUTH CAEOLINA. 

Leaving rlie left wing to complete the work of destroying 
the Charleston and Savannah railway west of Branchville, 
Sherman himself, with the right wing, moved on Orangeburg, 
situated thirteen miles north of Branchville, on the State road, 
between Charleston and Columbia, near its intersection with 
the railway connecting the latter with Branchville. Until 
this point should be reached and passed, the direction of 
Sherman's movement would not be fully developed, for he 
still continued to menace Charleston, Augusta, and Columbia ; 
and the position of the left wing might equally satisfy the 
conditions of either theory, as well as the sujjposition that he 
might move by his right by Florence or Cheraw directly on 
Wilmington or Fayetteville. 

Blair's seventeenth corps crossed the South Fork of the 
Edisto Biver at Binnaker's Bridge, and moved straight on 
Orangeburg ; while Logan, with the Fifteenth Corps, crossed 
at Holman's Bridge, and moved to Poplar Springs in support. 

On the 12th of February, the Seventeenth Corps found the 
enemy intrenched in front of the Orangeburg Bridge, but swept 
him away by a dash, and followed him, forcing him across the 
bridge, which was partially burned. Behind the bridge was a 
battery in position, covered by a cotton and earth parapet, 
with wings as far as could be seen. General Blair held 
Giles A. Smith's division close up to the Edisto, and moved 
the other two to a point about two miles below, where he 
crossed Force's division by a pontoon bridge, holding Mower's 
in support. As soon as Force emerged fi'om the swamp the 



340 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

enemy gave ground, and Giles A. Smitli's division gained tlie 
bridge, crossed over, and occupied the enemy's parapet. He 
soon repaired the bridge, and by four P. M. the whole corps 
was in Orangeburg, and had begun the work of destruction 
on the railway. Blair was ordered to destroy this railway 
effectually up to Lewisville, and to push the enemy across the 
Congaree, and force him to burn the bridges, which he did on 
the 14th. 

Hardee now perceiving Sherman's immediate objective, 
evacuated Charleston, retreating on Florence, parallel to the 
line of march just passed over by Sherman's army, and General 
Gillmore's troops entered and occupied the city on the 18th. 

Blair's seventeenth corps followed the State road, and 
Logan's fifteenth corps crossed the North Edisto from Poplar 
Springs at Schilling's Bridge, above the mouth of Cawcaw 
Swamp Creek, and took a country road which entered the 
State road at Zeigler's. 

On the 15th, the Fifteenth Corps found the enemy in a 
strong position at the bridge across Congaree Creek, with a 
tete-de.-pont on the south side, and a well-constructed fort on 
the north side, commanding the bridge with artillery. The 
ground in front was very bad, level and clear, with a fresh 
deposit of mud from a recent overflow. General Charles R. 
Woods, who commanded the landing division, succeeded, how- 
ever, in turning the flank of the tefe-de-pont by sending Stone's 
brigade through a cypress swamp to the left ; and following up 
the retreating enemy promptly, got possession of the bridge 
and the fort beyond. The bridge had been partially damaged 
by fire, and had to be repaired for the passage of artillery, so 
that night closed in before the head of the column could reach 
the bridge across Congaree Eiver in front of Columbia. That 
night the enemy shelled the camps of the right wing from a 
battery on the east side of the Congaree above Granby. 

Early on the morning of the IGtli the head of the column 
reached the bank of the Congaree, opposite Columbia, but too 
late to save the fine bridge which spanned the river at that 
point, and which was burned by the enemy. "While waiting 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 341 

for tlie pontoons to come to the front, people could be seen 
running about the streets of Columbia, and occasionally small 
bodies of cavaky, but no masses. A single gun of Captain 
De Grass' battery was fired at their cavalry squads, but General 
Sherman checked his firing, Hmiting him to a few shots directed 
at the unfinished State House walls, and a few shells at the rail- 
way depot, to scatter the people engaged in carrying away sacks 
of corn and meal. There was no white flag or manifestation 
of surrender. Sherman directed General Howard to cross the 
Saluda at the Factory, three miles above the city, and after- 
wards Broad Eiver, so as to approach Columbia from the north. 

Slocum, with the left wing, crossed the South Edisto on the 
15th of February, at New and Guignard's bridges, and moved 
to a position on the Orangeburg and Edgefield road, there to 
await the result of the movement of the right wing upon the 
former place ; Howard having entered Orangeburg on the 
12th, and being then in march on Columbia. On the 14th 
Slocum crossed the North Edisto, the Twentieth Corps at 
Jones' Bridge, the Fourteenth Corps at Horsey' s Bridge, and 
Kilpatrick at Gunter's Bridge ; and, all three columns uniting 
at and below Lexington, the advance appeared at the Saluda, 
within an hour after the head of Howard's column reached the 
river on the 16th. 

General Howard effected a crossing of the Saluda, near the 
Factory, on the 16th, skirmishing with cavalry, and the same 
night threw a flying-bridge across Broad River, about three 
miles above Columbia, by which he crossed over Stone's Bridge 
"Woods' division of the Fifteenth Corps. Under cover of this 
force a pontoon bridge was laid on the morning of the 17th. 
Sherman was in person at this bridge, and at eleven a. m. 
learned that the mayor of Columbia had come out in a carriage 
and made a formal surrender of the city to Colonel Stone, 
Twenty-fifth Iowa regiment, commanding the third brigade of 
Woods' division of the Fifteenth Corps. About the same time, 
a small party of the Seventeenth Corps had crossed the Con- 
garee in a skiff, and entered Columbia from a point imme- 
diately west of the city. 



342 SHERMAN AND HIS CAAfPAIQNS. 

In anticipation of tlie occupation of tlie city, Slierman liad 
given written orders to General Howard touching tlie con- 
duct of the troops. These instructions were, to destroy abso- 
lutely all arsenals and public property not needed for our own 
use, as all railways, depots, and machinery useful in war to an 
enemy, but to spare aU dwellings, colleges, schools, asylums, 
and harmless private property. Sherman was the first to cross 
the pontoon bridge, and, in company with General Howard, 
rode into the city. The day was clear, but a perfect tempest 
of wind was raging. The brigade of Colonel Stone was already 
in the city, and Avas properly posted. Citizens and soldiers 
were on the streets, and general good order prevailed. Gen- 
eral Wade Hampton, who commanded the Confederate rear- 
guard of cavalry, had, in anticipation of the capture of 
Columbia, ordered that cotton, public and private, should be 
moved into the streets and fired, to prevent the Yankee in- 
vaders from benefiting by its use. Bales were piled every 
where, the rope and bagging cut, and tufts of cotton were 
blown about in the wind, lodged in the trees and against 
houses, so as to resemble a snow-storm. Some of these piles 
of cotton were burning, especially one in the very heart of the 
city, near the courthouse, but the fire was partially subdued 
by the labor of the Union soldiers. 

During the day, Logan, with the Fifteenth Corps, passed 
through Columbia and out on the Camden road. The Seven- 
teenth Corps did not enter the town at all. 

Before a single pubhc building had been fired by orders, the 
smouldering fires, lighted by Hampton's men, were rekindled by 
the wind, and communicated to the buildings around. About 
dark, the flames began to spread, and got beyond the control 
of the brigade on duty within the city. The whole of Woods' 
division was brought in, but it was found impossible to check 
the progress of the fire, which, by midnight, had become 
unmanageable, and raged until about four A. m., when, the 
wind subsiding, it was got under control. Sherman himself 
was up nearly aU night, and with Generals Howard, Logan, 
Hazen, Woods, and others, labored hard to save houses and 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 343 

protect families thus suddenly deprived of shelter and of 
bedding and wearing apparel. In his official report, Sherman 
says : — 

" I disclaim on the part of my army any agency in this fire, 
but, on the contrary, claim that we saved what of Columbia 
remains unconsumed. And, without hesitation, I charge 
General Wade Hampton with having burned his ovm city of 
Columbia, not with a mahcious intent, or as the manifestation 
of a silly ' Eoman stoicism,' but from foUy and want of sense, 
in filling it with lint, cotton, and tinder. Our officers and men 
on duty worked well to extinguish the flames ; but others not 
on duty, including the officers who had long been imprisoned 
there, rescued by us, may have assisted in spreading the fire 
after it had once begun, and may have indulged in unconcealed 
joy to see the ruin of the capital of South Carolina." 

During the 18th and 19th, the arsenal, railway depots, 
machine-shops, foundries, and other buildings were properly 
destroj'ed by detailed working parties, and the railway-track 
torn up and destroyed to E,ingsville, and the Wateree or Ca- 
tawba Bridge in the direction of Winnsboro'. 

On the 16th, as soon as the head of Slocum's column ap- 
peared within two miles of Columbia, as already stated, Sher- 
man directed him to march by the left again directly upon 
Winnsboro'. Accordingly, Slocum crossed the Saluda at 
Hart's Ferry, and on the 17th, marching by OakidUe and Kock- 
ville, reached the Broad River, near Alston. Encamping there 
on the 18th, on the 19th the left vnng crossed the Broad, 
entered Alston, and began breaking uj) the railways near that 
place. The Spartansburg railway was destroyed for fourteen 
miles to the northward of Alston, as far as and including the 
bridge over the Broad River. On the 20th, Slocum crossed 
Little River and reached Winnsboro' on the 21st. 

Sherman, with the right wing, having destroyed all that 
remained of Columbia likely to be of any use for mihtary pur- 
poses, marched on the 20th directly on Winnsboro', the 
Fifteenth Corps moving along the railway and destroying it, 



544 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and the Seventeenth Corps on a parallel road. On the 2l5t, 
Howard reached Winnsboro'. 

The movements of the cavalry acting separately on the ex- 
treme left flank of the army, and concealing as well as covering 
the movements of the infantry columns, must noAV be brought 
down to the same period. Kilpatrick, as we have already seen 
in following the march of the infantry, reached Eobertville on 
the 3d of February, and thence marched on the 4th to Law- 
tonville, on the 5th to Allandale, and on the 6th, haAdng de- 
monstrated well towards Augusta, driving a brigade of the 
enemy's cavalry before him, turned short to the right and 
crossed the Salkehatchie just below Barnwell. 

The enemy, about three hundred strong, occupied a well- 
chosen position, behind earthworks on the opposite side of the 
river, commanding the bridge, which was already on fire ; but 
the Ninth Ohio Cavahy, Colonel Hamilton, and the Ninety- 
second Illinois Mounted Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Van 
Buskirk, dashed through the swamp, the men v/ading in the 
water up to their arm-pits, crossed the stream on trees felled 
by the pioneers, and under cover of a rapid fire of artillery, 
gallantly carried the works, driving the enemy in confusion 
towards the town of Barnwell. Only a portion of the bridge 
being destroyed, the fire was extinguished, and it was quickly re- 
paired, and Kilpatrick entered the town of Barnwell at four p. m. 

On the morning of the 7th, he struck the Charleston and 
Atlanta railway at BlackviUe, driving a brigade of Wheeler's 
cavahy from the town. The advance was engaged alone with 
the enemy at this point, in a very spirited affair, wherein 
Colonel Jordan, Captain Estes, assistant-adjutant-geueral, 
and Captain Northrope greatly distinguished themselves. 

Here the cavalry rested, destroying track during the 7th 
and 8th, and on the evening of the 8th moved up the railway 
in the direction of Augusta, as far as WiUiston Station. After 
posting pickets on the various roads leading from the town, 
and before going into camp, an attack was made on Spencer's 
brigade, holding the direct road to Augusta. Kilpatrick di- 
rected Colonel Spencer at once to move out with his brigade, feel 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 345 

tlie enemy and ascertain his strength. A spirited fight ensued, 
in which sis regiments of Allen's division of Wheeler's cavalry, 
namely, the First, Third, Seventh, Ninth, Twelfth, and Fifty- 
first Alabama, were totally routed. Colonel Spencer conducted 
the fight unaided, and displayed skill and gallantry. One 
officer and many men of the enemy were killed, a large number 
wounded, several prisoners were taken, and five battle-flags 
captured. Colonel Spencer pressed the pursuit so closely, for 
a distance of seven or eight miles, that the enemy was finally 
forced to leave the road and scatter through the woods and 
swamps, in order to escape. At Williston, Kilpatrick re- 
mained till ten A. M. nest day, one-third of his entire command 
being employed in tearing up the track, three miles of which 
were effectually destroyed, together with the depot and two cars. 

On the 9th of February, he moved along the railway to 
Windsor, and thence to Johnson's Station, destroying portions 
of the track up to that point. 

The cavalry had moved from Blackville in such a manner, 
and Kilpatrick had so manoeuvred, as to create the impression 
on the minds of the enemy in Augusta, that his movement was 
the advance of the main army dii'ectly on that place. On the 
morning of the 11th, it was found that this feint was a com- 
plete success. Wheeler having left the Edisto unguarded and 
uncovered Columbia, had, by marching day and night, reached 
Aiken at dayHght that morning with his entire command. 
To make certain of this, Atkins' brigade was directed to move 
from Johnson's Station, and reconnoitre in the direction of 
Aiken. His advance entered the town without opposition, and 
a moment afterwards, being furiously attacked by "V\^eeler's 
entke force, fell back, gallantly fighting and disputing every 
foot of ground to the position of the main body at Johnson's, 
thus gi\Tiig Kilpatrick sufficient time to make all neces- 
sary arrangements to check ^Mieeler's further advance. At 
eleven A. M., Wheeler, with one brigade, feigned upon Kilpat- 
rick's left flank, and charged, mounted, ^dth his entire command, 
but was handsomely repulsed with a loss on his part of thirty- 
one kiUed, one hundi-ed and sixty wounded, and sixty taken 



346 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS 

prisoners. Wheeler made no further attack, "but fell back to 
his former position at Aiken. 

Kilpatrick remained at Johnson's, destroying the railway 
and constantly demonstrating towards Augusta, till the night 
of the 12th, when he left Wheeler's front, crossed the South 
Fork of the Edisto at Guignard's Bridge, and encamped four 
miles beyond, picketing the river as high up as Pine Log 
Bridge. 

On the 14th, the cavalry encamped on the south bank of the 
North Edisto, crossed on the 15th, and moved well in on the 
left of Davis' fourteenth corjDs, and marching parallel with it, 
struck the Lexington and Augusta road, northward of and 
nine miles from the former place. Only fifteen hundred of 
Wlieeler's cavalry had then passed over the road in the direc- 
tion of Columbia, the majority of his command being inter- 
cepted by Kilpatrick's movement, as Cheatham's corps was by 
that of the infantry. 

On the 17th, Kilpatrick crossed the Saluda River, moved 
north, and found that Wheeler had already crossed and was 
moving for the railway bridge over the Broad River at Alston's. 

All day on the 18th, Kilpatrick marched parallel to Cheat- 
ham's corps, moving on Newberry, and at some points not 
over three miles distant from it, a bad stream alone preventing 
him from striking the enemy in flank. Kilpatrick struck the 
railway at Pomaria Station, destroyed a portion of the track, 
the depot, and several bridges between that point and Broad 
River, and reached Alston's Station, on Broad River, on the 
evening of the 18th. 

On the 19th he crossed the Broad River, and on the evening 
of the 20tli reached Monticello, and found that Wheeler had 
already crossed the river and was moving on Chesterfield. 

Wmnsboro', where Sherman's infantry was now massed, is 
situated on the Charlotte and South Carolina railway, seventy 
miles south of Charlotte, North Carohna, and thirty-nine miles 
north of Columbia. Monticello is nearly opposite, between 
Winnsboro' and the Broad River. The movement of the en- 
tire army so far in this dii'ection served to support the theory 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 347 

that Sherman was aiming to reach Virginia by the inland 
route, by way of Charlotte. 

In the mean while, Beauregard had been reheved from the 
chief command of the Confederate forces operating against 
Sherman, and the Confederate Congress, stung into activity by 
the presence of an unexpected and alarming danger threaten- 
ing to overwhelm their cause, had ^Tung from Jeft'erson Davis 
the reappointment of General Johnston to the sujDreme con- 
trol of all the troops west of the Chattahoochee River and 
south of Virginia. Johnston had taken up a position at Char- 
lotte, concentrating there the forces with which Beauregard had 
evacuated Columbia and the local garrisons and militia of North 
Carolina, re- enforced to some extent from Lee's army, and was 
awaiting the arrival of the remnants of the Confederate Ai'my 
of the Tennessee. The remains of Cheatham's corps had 
reached Branchville as Sherman pushed rapidly past that 
place and on to Orangeburg, and had been cut off from John- 
ston by the dnection of Sherman's march and the burning of 
the bridges over the Saluda. 

With an army so greatly inferior, not only in numbers, 
but now also in spirit and morale, Johnston's task was an 
exceedingly diflficult one. The abandonment of Columbia was 
the turning point of the campaign. That gained, Sherman 
could choose his line of march and feint on Charlotte while 
moving on Fayetteville or Wilmington, or march on the 
former place while feigning on the latter, at his pleasure. 
That lost, the Confederate commander must choose Char- 
lotte or Goldsboro' as his defensive point. They are too 
far distant to warrant the attempt to defend both. If he 
chose Goldsboro', he would not only seriously expose his rear 
and flank to a movement from the direction of Newbern or the 
Eoanoke, but Sherman would be able to march quietly 
through Charlotte to the James. If, on the contrary, he de- 
cided to defend Charlotte, the defence of Goldsboro' and the 
seaboard must be left to chance. An army too weak to hold 
Columbia against an enemy moving fi*om Georgia on North 
Carolina would almost necessarily loose the whole country 



348 SHEEMAN AOT) HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

soutli of tlie Roanoke. Davis took no steps to restore tlie 
campaign until Columbia was abandoned. Then the cam- 
paign was lost. 

Sherman pushed his advantage to the utmost. On the 22d 
of February, Slocum continued liis march towards Charlotte, 
thoroughly destroyed the railway as far as Blackstock, or 
Blackstakes Station, fifteen miles from Winnsboro' and fifty- 
five from Charlotte, and then facing to the right, marched for 
the Wateree or Catawba Eiver, and reached it that night at 
Rocky Mount. During the night a pontoon bridge was laid 
across the Catawba, and WiUiams' twentieth corps crossed on 
the morning and afternoon of the 23d, followed in the night by 
Kilpatrick's cavalry, which moved rapidly on Lancaster, dis- 
tant about forty miles from Charlotte, with the object of keep- 
ing ahve the idea entertained by the Confederates that the 
army was moving on the latter place. On the evening of the 
23d, a heavy rain began to fall, lasting until the 26th, and 
swelling the rivers so that the pontoons were carried away, 
and it was imj)ossible for the troops to cross, and rendering 
the roads almost impracticable. Williams' twentieth corps 
reached Hanging Eock on the 26th, and there waited until the 
1st of March for Jefferson C. Davis to come up with the 
Fourteenth Corps, which had been left on the left bank of the 
Catawba by the flood and the consequent destruction of the 
pontoon bridge. 

Howard's right wing having destroyed the railway up to 
Winnsboro', marched thence on the 22d of February, crossed 
the Catawba at Peay's Ferry, and moved on Cheraw, Blair's 
seventeenth corps on the right, by Tiller's and Kelly's bridges 
over Lynch's Creek, and Logan's fifteenth corps taking the 
direct road on the left by way of Young's Bridge. A detach- 
ment of Logan's fifteenth corps, by a detour to the right,, 
entered Camden on the 28th of February, and burned the 
bridges over the Catawba, and the depot of the Camden 
Branch railway. A small force of mounted men, under Captain 
Duncan, sent out to break the Wilmington and Manchester 
railway, was met by Butler's division of Confederate cavab-y, 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 349 

at Mount Clio, and after a sliarp skirmisli returned unsuccess- 
ful. At Lynch's Creek, Sherman halted the right wing for three 
days to give time for Slocum with the left wing to come up. 

From Monticello, the cavalry moved to Blackstock, or 
Blackstakes, on the Columbia and Charlotte railway, and dem- 
onstrated strongly in the direction of Chester until the main 
army had secured the passage of the Catawba, then drew off 
across that river, moved to Lancaster, and again demonstrated 
in the direction of Charlotte. Wheeler and Hampton had now 
combined their forces well in Kilpatrick's front, but by dem- 
onstrations, feints, and well-planned devices, were deceived 
as to his real movements for several days ; and it was not untU 
the main army had crossed Lynch's Creek and reached the 
Great Pedee that they discovered their mistake. 

Williams' twentieth corps having waited at Hanging Rock 
from the 26th to the 28th of February, for Davis' fourteenth 
corps to come up, on the 1st of March the left wing, united, 
moved to Horton's Ferry on Lynch's Creek ; and on the 2d, 
the Twentieth Corps entered Chesterfield, skirmishing with 
Butler's division of the enemy's cavalry. 

At noon, on the 3d, Blair's seventeenth corps entered 
Cheraw, capturing twenty-five pieces of artillery and a large 
quantity of ammunition and material, which had been removed 
fi'om Charleston when that city was evacuated. The gims and 
stores were destroyed, and the trestles and bridges of the 
Cheraw and Darhngton railway burned as far as the latter 
place ; but a mounted force sent out to destroy the com- 
munication between Florence and Charleston encountered a 
superior body of the enemy, comprising both cavalry and 
infantry, and was compelled to return without accomplishing 
its chief object. Logan's fifteenth corps met with great difficid- 
ties in crossing Lynch's and Black creeks, four days being 
occupied in the passage of the former stream, which rose to 
such an extent immediately after Corse's di-vdsion, leading, 
reached the east bank, that the other three divisions could 
not have followed at once without swimming the animals more 
than three-quarters of a mile. Upon the occupation of Cheraw 



350 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

by Blair the enemy retreated beyond the Great Pedee Eiver, 
and burned the bridge over that stream. 

On the 5th of March, the army began to cross the Great 
Pedee, the right wing at Cheraw, the left wing and the cavalry 
at Sneedsboro'. 

On the 6th, both wings were massed on the east bank of the 
Great Pedee, and the army began its movement directly on 
Fayetteville ; Blair's seventeenth corps leading the right wing, 
and Davis' fourteenth corps taking the right of the left wing, 
and moving by Love's Bridge over the Lumber Biver, so as 
to be the first to enter the town, while Kilpatrick's cavalry 
was kept well out on the left flank. 

From the time of leaving Cheraw and Chesterfield, the 
heavy rains, which had previously so greatly obstructed the 
movements of the army, contmued without intermission until 
Fayetteville was reached. The numerous small streams be- 
came swollen by the floods and very difficult to pass, and the 
loose soil was soon worked, by the passage of troops and 
trains, into a quicksand of unknown dejDth, in which the ani- 
mals became hopelessly mired, and many were even lost. The 
daj's were spent by the soldiers in wearily dragging through 
the mud ; the nights, in corduroying to make a way for the 
trains. 

Davis, with the Fourteenth Corps, reached Love's Bridge 
over the Lumber River on the 7th of March, crossed, marched 
to within twenty miles of Fayetteville on the 9th, ten miles 
nearer on the 10th, and on the 11th entered the town. 

Blair's seventeenth corps reached Laurel Hill on the 8th, 
Gilchrist's Bridge over the Lumber on the 9th, and marched 
into Fayetteville on the 12tli. 

As the army approached this point both wings moved more 
cautiously, expecting Hardee to make a fight in front of the 
to^vn, and to defend the crossing of the Cape Fear Eiver ; but, 
undoubtedly in consequence of his inferiority in numbers, he 
retired without offering any serious opposition, retreated be- 
yond the river, and burned the bridge after him. 

Ealpatrick, having sent out a part of his command to Mon- 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 351 

roe and Wadesboro', crossed the Great Pedee on the niglit of 
the 6th of March, and occupied Rockingham on the 7th, after 
a skirmish with Butler's division of Hampton's Confederate 
cavalry. 

On the 8th, Kilpatrick crossed the Lumber Kiver at Love's 
Bridge, and at Solemn Grove came upon the rear of Hardee, 
who was then in full retreat on Fajetteville, on the Charlotte 
road. Learnmg fi'om prisoners that Hampton's cavalry was 
still in the rear of Hardee's troops, but rapidly moving in the 
same direction, Kilpatrick now determined to intercept him. 

Hampton was marching upon two roads ; the Morgantown 
road, and one three miles further to the north and jDarallel 
with it. Directly south and east from Solemn Grove, Kilpat- 
rick posted upon each road a brigade of cavaky ; and learning 
that there was a road still further north, upon which the en- 
emy's troops might move, he made a rapid night's march with 
Colonel Spencer's brigade, increased by four hundred dis- 
mounted men and one section of artillery, and took post at a 
point where the road last mentioned intersects the Morgantown 
road. During the early part of the evening, Kilpatrick with 
his staff had left General Atkins and joined Colonel Spencer, 
and actually ridden through one division of Hampton's cavalry, 
which by eleven o'clock had flanked General Atkins, and was 
encamped within three miles of Colonel Spencer. Kilpatrick's 
escort, consisting of fifteen men and one officer, was captured, 
but the general himself escaped with his staff. 

General Atkins and Colonel Jordan discovered, about nine 
o'clock, that while Hampton was amusing them in fi'ont, he 
was passing with his main force on a road to the right. These 
officers at once made every effort to reach Kilpatrick before 
daylight, but failed to do so owing to the bad roads and almost 
incessant skirmishing with the enemy, who were marching 
parallel wdth them, and at some points scarcely a mile distant. 

Hampton had marched all day, and rested his men about 
three miles from Colonel Jordan's position. At two o'clock 
in the morning, just before daylight, he suddenly and furiously 
charged Kilpatrick's position with Horner's, Allen's, and 



352 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Butler's divisions. Hampton led the centre division, Butler's, 
and in an instant had driven back the Union troops, taken 
possession of the headquarters, and captured all the artillery, 
and Kilpatrick's whole command was in full flight. Colonel 
Spencer and a large portion of the general's staff were taken 
prisoners. 

Kilpatrick succeeded in escaping on foot and gainmg the 
cavalry camp, a few hundred yards in the rear, where he found 
the men fighting with the Confederate cavalry for their camp 
and animals. Finally they were forced back five hundred 
yards further to an impassable swamp, and there, while the 
enemy, eager for plunder, was engaged in pillaging the cap- 
tured camp, Kilpatrick rallied them. Inspired by his example, 
and led by the general in person, on foot, they advanced 
upon the enemy, retook their camp, and, encouraged by this 
success, charged the enemy in the act of harnessing the battery 
horses and plundering the headquarters, retook the artillery, 
turned it upon the enemy, hardly twenty paces distant, and 
finally forced them out of the camp with great slaughter. 
Kilpatrick then immediately re-established his hne, and for 
an hour and a half foiled every attempt of Hampton to retake 
it. At about eight o'clock. General Mitchell, with a brigade of 
infantry, came within musket range, having rapidly marched 
across the country fi'om the plank-road to the assistance of the 
cavahy, and at once moved into position and remained there 
until half-past one o'clock, rendering every assistance possible, 
though the battle was now over. 

In this engagement Kilpatrick lost four officers and fifteen 
men killed, sixty-one men wounded, and one hundred and 
three of all ranks taken prisoners. 

On the 11th of March the cavalry moved into FayetteviUe, 
in advance of the Fourteenth Corps, and on the 12th the 
entire army was massed at that place. 

From Laurel HiU, on the 8tli of March, Sherman had dis- 
patched a brief note, by two picked couriers, through the 
enemy's country, down the Cape Fear Biver to Wilmington, 
to apprize the commander of the Union forces on the North 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 353 

Carolina coast of liis progress. "We are all well," it said, 
" and have done finely. Details are, for obvious reasons, 
omitted." Botli of these scouts reached Wilmington safely, 
and on the 14tli of March these glad tidings, the very first 
received from the army since it swung loose from Savannah 
and Beaufort, were spread before the country in an official 
bulletin from the secretary of war. 

On the 12th, the army-tug Davidson, Captain Ainsworth, 
and the gunboat Eolus, Lieutenant-Commander Young, of the 
navy, reached Fayetteville from Wilmington, with full intelli- 
gence of the important events that had transpired in other 
quarters, in the eventful six weeks during which Sherman's 
army was burrowing through the Carolinas. The same day 
the Davidson carried back to Wilmington detailed information 
of the movements and condition of the army, and full instruc- 
tions concerning Sherman's future plans, to General Terry, 
who had captured Wilmington, and now commanded there, and 
to General Schofield, who was at Newbern. 

While in South CaroHna the troops exercised scarcely any 
restraint with respect to the property of the inhabitants ; 
plundering and destroying without stint. They regarded the 
people of this State, as a body, and practically without 
exception, as hfe-long enemies of the Union, and conceived 
that upon the army devolved the duty of punishing them for 
their sins. So general and deeply-seated was this impression, 
on the part of officers and men, that it was often impossible 
for their commanders to control the manifestation of it ; but 
from the moment of entering North Carolina the whole 
demeanor of the army changed, and the men yielded with 
alacrity to the customary restraints of discipline. 

During the campaign General Wheeler addressed the fol- 
lowing communication to General Howard, on the subject of 
destroying houses and cotton : — 

" Gkahams, S. C, February 7, 1865. 

" Genekal — I have the honor to propose that, if the troops 
of your army be required to discontinue burning the houses 
of our citizens, I vn\l discontinue burning cotton. 

23 



354 SHEKMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" As an earnest of the good faitli in wliicli my proposition is 
tendered, I leave at tliis place about three hundred bales oi 
cotton unburned, worth, in New York, over a quarter of a 
million, and in our currency, one and a half miUions. I trust 
my having commenced will cause you to use your influence to 
insure the acceptance of the proposition by your whole 
army. 

" I trust that you wOl not deem it improper for me to ask 
that you will require the troops under your command to dis- 
continue the wanton destruction of property not necessary for 
their sustenance. 

" Respectfully, general, your obedient servant, 

"J. Wheelee, 
" Major-General C. S. A. 

' Major-General O. 0. Howakd, 

" United States Ai-my, Commanding, etc." 

To this General Sherman chose to reply himself, in the fol- 
lowing characteristic terms : — 

" Headquahters Militaet DmsioN of the Mississippi, 
In the field, February 8, 1865. 

" General — ^Tours, addressed to General Howard, is re- 
ceived by me. 

" I hope you will burn all cotton, and save us the trouble. 
We don't want it ; and it has proven a curse to our country. 
All you don't burn I will. 

"As to private houses, occupied by peaceful families, my 
orders are not to molest or disturb them, and I think my 
orders are obeyed. Vacant houses, being of no use to any- 
body, I care httle about, as the owners have thought them of 
no use to themselves. I don't want them destroyed, but do 
not take much care to preserve them. 

" I am, with respect, yours truly, etc. 

" Major-General J. Wheeler, 

Commanding Cavalry Corps Confederate Army." 



THROUGH SOUTH CAROLINA. 355 

On tlie 24tli of February, after some sharp, but ineffectual, 
correspondence between Kilpatrick and Wheeler, in regard to 
the murder of the Union prisoners and foragers, Sherman 
wrote to General Wade Hampton : — 

" General — It is officially reported to me that our foraging 
parties are murdered, after being captured, and labelled, 'Death 
to all Foragers.' One instance is that of a lieutenant and 
seven men near Chester, and another of twenty, near a ravine 
eighty rods from the main road, and three miles from Easter- 
ville. I have ordered a similar number of prisoners in our 
hands to be disposed of in like manner. I hold about one 
thousand prisoners captured in various ways, and can stand it 
as long as you, but I hardly think these murders are commit- 
ted with your knowledge, and would suggest that you give 
notice to your people at large that every life taken by them 
simply results in the death of one of your confederates. 

"Of course, you cannot question my right to forage in an 
enemy's country. It is a war right, as old as history. The 
manner of exercising it varies with circumstances, and if the 
country will supply my requisitions, I will forbid all foraging ; 
but I find no civil authorities who can respond to calls for 
forage or provisions, and therefore must coUect directly of the 
people. 

" I have no doubt this is the occasion of much misbehavior 
on the part of our men, but I cannot permit an enemy to 
judge or punish with wholesale murder. Personally, I regret 
the bitter feelings engendered by this war, but they were to 
be expected, and I simply allege that those who struck the 
first blow, and made war inevitable, ought not, in fairness, to 
reproach us for the natural consequences. I merely assert 
our war-right to forage, and my resolve to protect my foragers 
to the extent of hfe for Hfe. 

" I am, vntli respect, your obedient servant." 

To this General Hampton rephed at great length, and with 
acrimony, denying his knowledge of any such murders, and 



356 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

instead of investigating the circumstances, declaring liis fixed 
intention of executing two federal prisoners, preferably com- 
missioned officers, for every one put to death by Sherman. 
As a beginning, he stated that he should hold fifty-six Union 
prisoners as hostages for the safety of the twenty-eight Con- 
federates ordered to be executed by Sherman. 

" The army," Sherman wrote to the heutenant-general, " is 
in splendid health, condition, and spirit, although we have 
had foul weather, and roads that would have stopped travel 
to almost any other body of men I ever heard of. Our march 

was substantially what I designed I could leave here 

to-morrow, but want to clean my columns of the vast crowd of 

refugees and negroes that encumber me I hope you 

have not been uneasy about us, and that the fruits of this 
march will be appreciated." 



CO-OPEEATI\^E MOVEilENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 357 



CHAPTEE XXYIII. 

CO-OrEEATIVE MOVEMENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

As soon as Sherman liad reached Savannah, i^sported the 
condition of his army, developed his plans, and received the 
assent of General Grant to his proposal to march through the 
CaroHnas, instead of moving by water directly to the support 
of the armies before Eichmond, as had been originally intended 
and ordered, the lieutenant-general proceeded to put in motion 
the parallel combination necessary to insure the success of the 
campaign. 

Sherman's objective being Goldsboro', the first step to be 
taken obviously was to secure possession of "Wilmington, and 
the control of the Cape Fear Eiver, so that suppHes might, if 
needful, be sent up that stream, and likewise in order that no 
formidable and strongly fortified garrison might be left to 
menace the flank and rear of the moving column. 

In anticipation of the occasion for such an operation, and 
desiring to secure control of the mouth of the Cape Fear 
Eiver, at a time when attention was less strongly directed in 
that quarter than would be the case when the execution of his 
plans should be more fully developed. General Grant had, in 
December, sent a large force from the Army of the James, 
under Major-General Godfrey Weitzel, and the Navy Depart- 
ment had dispatched a powerful fleet, under Eear-Admiral 
David D. Porter, to co-operate in the reduction, first of Fort 
Fisher and its adjacent works on Federal Point, and after- 
wards of Wilmington. 

Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, the commander of the 



358 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Army of the James, accompanied tlie land forces, and assumed 
control of tlieir movements. After numerous delays and mis- 
understandings, tlie navy opened a furious bombardment on 
the afternoon of the 24th of December, 1864, and kept it up 
until nightfall, and all Christmas-day, at the rate of about one 
shot in every two seconds. During the afternoon of the 25th, 
under cover of this fire, a portion of the troops landed and 
made a reconnoissance of the Confederate works ; but a storm 
coming up. General Butler, after consulting with General 
Weitzel, and ascertaining that the opinion of that officer 
coincided with his own, ordered the troops already landed to 
re-embark,, and, on the 27th, withdrew his command on the 
transport fleet and returned to the James Ei^ er. Admiral 
Porter, however, decided to remain and continue the naval 
operations as opportunity might offer. 

General Grant immediately selected Major-General Alfred 
Howe Terry to command the expedition, and directed him to 
renew the attempt without delay, while the enemy were evi- 
dently counting on its abandonment. The choice was an 
excellent one. General Terry was a young, brave, and ac- 
complished officer, who had entered the army in the earliest 
period of the war as colonel of the Tenth Regiment of Con- 
necticut Yolunteers ; and by active service, zeal, fidehty, and 
gallantry, had, step by step, won his promotion to his present 
position, for which, by study and careful attention to duty, he 
had taken pains to quahfy himseK. The troops placed under 
his orders for the joresent movement, including those which 
had taken part in the previous failure, consisted of a division 
of thirty-three hundred picked men from Ord's twenty-fourth 
army corps, under Brigadier-General Adelbert Ames ; a divi- 
sion of hke strength fi-om Weitzel's twenty-fifth corps, under 
Brigadier-General Charles J. Paine ; a brigade fourteen hun- 
dred strong, also from Ord's corj^s, commanded by Colonel J. 
C Abbott, of the Seventh New Hampshire ; and two detached 
batteries of light artillery. 

The expedition sailed from Hampton Eoads on the 6th of 
January, 1865, but, owing to a severe storm, followed by con- 



CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 359 

tinuous unfavorable weather, did not reacli its destination off 
Federal Point and begin the disembarkation until the morn- 
ing of the 13th. By three o'clock that afternoon, however, 
through a heavy surf, eight thousand men, with three days' 
rations in their haversacks and forty rounds of ball cartridges 
in their boxes, had been landed on the beach above the fort, 
under cover of the admirable disposition and effective fire of 
Admiral Porter's fleet, and every thing was in readiness for an 
attack. After some time lost in endeavoring to find a suitable 
point for the establishment, across the peninsula whereon Fort 
Fisher is situated, of a Hue of defence against reinforcements 
seeking to aid the garrison from the direction of Wilmington, 
by two o'clock on the 14th, Paine, with his own division and two 
brigades of Ames' division, reached a favorable position for that 
purpose, and by eight o'clock had thrown up a secure line of 
intrenchments. During the day the enemy's works were thor- 
oughly reconnoitred, and General Terry determined on his 
plan of attack for the morrow. Into this Admiral Porter 
entered heartily. 

Accordingly, at eight o'clock on the morning of the 15th of 
January, all the fleet, except one division left to support the 
line of defence across the neck, went into action, and opened a 
powerful and accurate fire upon the fort. Withdrawing the 
two brigades of Ames' division, and leaving Paine to hold this 
defensive line with his own division and Abbott's brigade, at 
twenty-five minutes past three o'clock in the afternoon Terry 
gave the order for Ames to move to the assault of the western 
fi'ont. Simultaneously, by a concerted signal, the direction of 
the fire of the navy was changed, and Curtis' brigade of Ames' 
division sprang to the assault, while a battalion of marines and 
seamen, under Commander Breese of the navy, rushed for- 
ward to storm the northeast bastion. The naval assault was 
soon repulsed with heavy loss, but, aided by a well-du'ected 
and effective flank fire of the fleet, continued against the fort 
up to six o'clock p. M., Ames, afterwards re-enforced by Ab- 
bott's brigade and the Twenty-seventh United States Colored 
regiment, of Paine's division, succeeded in effecting an entrance 



360 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

into tlie work, and, figliting liand to hand across the embank- 
ments, from traverse to traverse, over nine in succession, by 
nine o'clock at night the last opposition of the enemy died out, 
the entire work was in undisputed possession of General Terry 
and his gallant troops, and the garrison were prisoners. 

Hoke's division of the Confederate army came down from 
Wilmington during the fight, and observed Paine's line, but 
did not attack it. 

On the 16th and 17th of January, the enemy blew up Fort 
Caswell, and abandoned it and the extensive works on Smith's 
Island, at Smithville and Eeeve's Point. These points were 
immediately occupied by General Terry, and the fleet took 
up position in the river and along the coast, to defend his 
flanks. 

Thus the mouth of Cape Fear Eiver was in the secure pos- 
session of the combined land and naval forces under General 
Terry and Admiral Porter. The next step was to take Wil- 
mington. 

In the mean while, other troops were moving in the same 
direction fr-om the far west. As soon as the crushing defeat 
of Hood, and the substantial destruction of the offensive power 
of his army by Thomas, had hberated a portion of the Union 
armies defending Tennessee and Kentucky for active opera- 
tion in other quarters, the lieutenant-general had detached 
Schofield with his Twenty -third Corps, and ordered him to An- 
napolis. The order to this effect was received by General 
Schofield on the 14tli of January, at Clifton, on the Tennessee 
Kiver, where water transportation had been collected to move 
the command to Eastport, in accordance with previous plans, 
and on the following day the movement began. 

The troops moved with their artillery and horses, but with- 
out wagons, by steam transports to Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
thence by railway to Washington and Alexandria, Yirginia ; a 
second order fr^om Wasliington having, in the mean time, 
changed the destination from Annapolis. Although in mid- 
winter, and the weather unusually severe, even for that season, 
the movement vras effected without delay, accident, or suffer- 



CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 361 

ing on the part of the troops, and by the 31st of January the 
whole command had arrived at Washmgton and Alexandria. 

At the latter place great and unavoidable delay was caused 
by the freezing of the Potomac, which rendered its navigation 
impossible much of the time for several weeks. Meanwhile 
General Schofield went to Fort Monroe, met General Grant, 
and proceeded with him to the mouth of Cape Fear Eiver to 
consult with Admiral Porter and General Terry relative to 
future operations. On their return to Washington an order was 
issued from the War Department creating the Department of 
North Carohna, and assigning General Schofield to its com- 
mand, and he now received General Grant's instructions 
charging him with the conduct of the campaign in that de- 
partment, and indicating its plan and objects. 

As soon as it became possible to navigate the Potomac, 
Schofield started from Alexandria with Major-General Cox's 
division of the Twenty-third Corps, reached the mouth of Cape 
Fear Eiver *on the 9th of February, and landed upon the pen- 
insula near Fort Fisher. 

The enemy still occupied Fort Anderson on the west bank 
of the river, with a collateral line running to a large swamp 
about three-quarters of a mile distant, and a line opposite 
Fort Anderson running across the peninsula from Cape Fear 
Biver to Masonboro' Sound. This position was impregnable 
against direct attack, and could be turned only by crossing 
Masonboro' Sound above the enemy's left, or passing around 
the swamp which covered his right. 

The force which General Schofield then had was evidently 
too small for so extended a movement as either of these ; but 
time being all-important, he determined to make the attempt 
without waiting for the arrival of reinforcements. 

On the 11th of February, he pushed forward General Terry's 
line, supported by General Cox's division, drove in the enemy's 
pickets, and intrenched in a new position, close enough to tho 
enemy's line to compel him to hold the latter in force. He 
then made preparations to send a fleet of imyj boats and pon- 
toons by sea to a point on the beach above the enemy's posi- 



362 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

tion, while a force composed of Cox's divisioii of the Twenty- 
tliird Corps and Ames' division of the Twenty-fourth Corps, 
was to march along the beach in the night to the point where 
the boats were to land, haul them across into the sound, and 
cross the latter to the main-land in rear of Hoke's position at 
"Wilmington. 

The weather, however, became so stormy as to render the 
execution of this plan impossible. On the night of February 
14th, Schofield attempted to move the pontoons upon their 
wagons along the beach with the troops, but the unusually 
high tides caused by the heavy sea-wind made it impracticable 
to reach the point of crossing before dayhght in the morning, 
when the movement would be discovered by the enemy before 
a crossing of the sound could be secured. Hence, after a hard 
night's work, the attempt was abandoned, and Schofield turned 
attention to the enemy's right, where the difficulties of both 
land and sea would not have to be jointly encountered. 

Cox's and Ames' divisions were crossed over to Smith ville, 
where they were joined by Colonel Moore's brigade of Couch's 
division of the Twenty-third Corps, which had just debarked, 
and advanced along the main Wilmington road until they 
encountered the enemy's position at Fort Anderson and the 
adjacent works. Here two brigades were intrenched to oc- 
cupy the enemy, while General Cox, with his other two 
brigades and Atnes' division, marched around the swamp 
covering the enemy's right, to strike the "Wilmington road in 
rear of Fort Anderson. The distance to be travelled was about 
fifteen miles. 

The enemy, warned by his cavaby of General Cox's move- 
ment, hastily abandoned his works on both sides of the river 
during the night of the 19th of February, and fell back behind 
Town Creek on the west, and to a corresponding position, 
covered by swamps, on the east. Thus, with but trifling loss 
and without serious opposition, General Schofield gained the 
main defences of Cape Fear Kiver and of Wilmington, with 
ten pieces of heavy ordnance and a large amount of ammu- 
nition. 



CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 363 

On tlie following day General Cox pnrsuecl the enemy to 
Town Creek, behind which he was found intrenched, having 
destroyed the only bridge across that stream. General Terry 
also encountered the enemy in his new position, and in force 
superior to his own. Ames' division was recrossed to the east 
bank, and joined Terry during the night of the 19th. 

On the 20th, General Cox crossed Town Creek below the 
enemy's position, by the use of a single flat-boat found in the 
stream ; and, by wading through swamps, reached the enemy's 
flank and rear, attacked and routed him, capturing two pieces 
of artillery, three hundred and seventy-five prisoners, besides 
the killed and wounded, and dispersed the remainder. Dm-ing 
the night General Cox rebuilt the bridge, crossed his artillery, 
and the next morning pushed on towards Wilmington without 
opposition. General Terry was unable to make any further 
advance, but occupied the attention of all of Hoke's force, so 
that he could not send any to replace that which Cox had de- 
stroyed. 

On the 21st, General Cox secured a portion of the enemy's 
pontoon bridge across Brunswick Eiver, which they had at- 
tempted to destroy, placed a portion of his troops on Eagle 
Island, and threatened to cross the Cape Fear above Wilming- 
ton. The enemy at once set fire to then- steamers, cotton, and 
military and naval stores, and abandoned the town of Wil- 
mington. General Terry's troops entered it without opposition 
early in the morning of the 22d of February, and pursued the 
enemy across Northeast Eiver. 

The total loss of General Schofield's troops in the operations 
from February lltli to the capture of Wilmington was about 
two hundred ofiicers and men, killed and wounded. Fifty-one 
pieces of heavy ordnance, fifteen hght pieces, and a large 
amount of ammunition feU into the hands of the captors. 

The next thing to be done was to take and hold Goldsboro'. 
The instructions given to General Schofield by tlie heutenant- 
general contemplated, in the event of a failure to reach that 
place, the occupation of some point as far as possible fi-om the 
coast on the railway hues connecting it with Goldsboro', and 



364: SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

the reconstruction of tlie railways leading to the rear. Either 
Wilinington or Newbern would be the base according to cir- 
cumstances. The object was twofold : Firstly, to render 
material assistance to Sherman, if necessary, in his northward 
march ; Secondly, to open a secure base of supphes for him 
on line of that march. 

Having no rolling-stock at Wilmington, and being nearly 
destitute of wagon transportation, Schofield was compelled to 
operate from Newbern alone for the capture of Goldsboro'. 
He had aheady sent thither about five thovisand troops belong- 
ing to Sherman's army, and directed Brigadier-General Innis 
N. Palmer, commanding the garrison, to move, with as httle 
delay as practicable, with aU his available force towards Kins- 
ton, to cover the workmen engaged in repairing the railway. 
As soon as Wilmington was secured, Euger's division of the 
Twenty-third Corps, which was then arriving at Cape Fear 
inlet, was also sent by sea to Morehead City, to re-enforce the 
column moving from Newbern. 

On the 25th, finding that General Pahner, instead of moving 
promptly, had come to Wilmington to consult in regard to 
details and difficulties, General Schofield ordered Major- 
General Cox to take command at Newbern. and push forward 
at once. 

• Couch's division of the Twenty-third Corps, which had 
nearly completed its debarkation wdien Wilmington was cap- 
tured, was brought to that place, and with Cox's, temporarily 
commanded by Brigadier-General Beilly, was prepared as 
rapidly as possible to join the column moving from Newbern 
by a land march. These arrangements w^ere made because 
of the scarcity of both land and sea transportation. It was 
not until March 6tli that wagons enough became available, 
including those belonging to General Terry's command, to 
move the two divisions from Wilmington to Kinston. 

On the 6th, General Couch set out with his own and Cox's 
divisions of the Twenty-third Corps, and marched by Onslow 
and Richland's for Kinston. 

On the same day General Schofield went by sea to More- 



CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 365 

head City, and joined General Cox beyond Ncv/bern on the 
8th. General Cox had advanced to Wise's Forks, about one 
and a half miles below Southwest Creek, and the railway was 
in rapid progress. 

The force in front of General Cox, which, from the best in- 
formation at hand, was supposed to consist of Hoke's division 
and a small body of reserves, had fallen back behind South- 
west Creek, and General Cox had sent two regiments, under 
Colonel Upham, Fifteenth Connecticut "Volunteers, to secure 
the crossing of the creek on the Dover road. The enemy, hav- 
ing been re-enforced by a portion of the old Confederate Army 
of Tennessee, recrossed the creek some distance above the 
Dover road, came down in rear of Colonel Upham's position, 
and surprised and captured nearly his entire command, num- 
bering about seven hundred men. The enemy then advanced, 
and endeavored to penetrate between Carter's and Palmer's 
divisions, respectively occupying the Dover -road and the rail- 
way, but was checked by Ruger's di\nsion of the Twenty-third 
Corps, which was just arriving upon the field. There was no 
fiu^ther engagement during the day beyond hght skhmishing, 
and the loss on either side, with the exception of the prisoners 
Captured with Colonel Upham, were insignificant. 

It being evident that the enemy's force was at least equal 
to that of General Cox, and that reinforcements were reaching 
them as rapidly as they could be brought by rail. General 
Schofield directed General Cox to put his troops in position, 
intrench them securely, and await the arrival of General 
Couch. 

On the 9th of March, the enemy pressed Schofield's line 
strongly, and felt for its flanks. Heavy skirmishing was kept 
up during the day, but no assault was made. 

On the 10th, the enemy having been largely re-enforced, and 
doubtless learning of the approach of General Couch's column, 
made a heavy attack upon General Cox's left and centre, but 
was decisively repulsed, and with heavy loss. Both attacks 
were met mainly by Euger's division of the Twenty-thii'd 
Corps, a portion of which had been rapidly transferred from 



36G SHEEMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

the centre to tlie left to meet the attack there, and then re- 
turned to the centre in time to repel the attempt on that portion 
of the line. The enemy retreated in confusion from the field, 
leaving his killed and wounded, as well as a large number of 
arms and intrenching tools, and during the night fell back 
across the Neuse, and burned the bridge over that river. The 
loss of Schofield's army in this engagement was about three 
liundred killed and wounded. 

On the 11th, without further opposition. General Couch 
arrived with his two divisions of the Twenty-third Corps, and 
effected a junction with the forces under General Cox. 

E[a\dng no pontoon train, Schofield was unable to cross the 
Neuse until the bridge could be repaired, or the pontoons, 
which had just arrived from the North, could be brought by 
railway from Morehead City. The crossing was effected with- 
out opposition on the 14th, the enemy having abandoned 
Kinston, and moved rapidly towards Smithfield to join the 
force under Johnston, who was then actively engaged in con- 
centrating all his available force to oppose Schofield's advance 
from FayetteAdlle. 

General Schofield showed equal energy in pushing his ad- 
vance straight on its destination in spite of obstacles, and skilf 
in resisting the attempt of the enemy to break up his concen- 
tration on Kinston. The junction at that place, in the pres- 
ence of the enemy, though behind the Neuse, of two columns 
moving simultaneously from Wilmington and Newbern was 
not only justified but demanded, at once by the lack of trans- 
])ortation for a preparatory concentration at Newbern, and by 
the necessity for avoiding a moment's delay ; but it was an 
operation of exceeding dehcacy, and in the hands of a com- 
mander less skilful in his designs, less mature in judgment, 
less prompt in decision, or less complete in execution, might 
have produced the most unfavorable results. The manner in 
which it was accomplished proved the wisdom displayed by 
the lieutenant-general in the selection of General Schofield for 
this important command. 



TO GOLDSBOEO'. 357 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

TO GOLDSBOEO '. 

The 12th, 13tli, and 14tli of Marcli were passed by Slier- 
man's army at Fayetteville, in totally destroying tlie United 
States arsenal and the extensive machinery which had formerly 
belonged to the old United States armory at Harper's Ferry, 
and which had been removed thence after the attempted de- 
struction of the works by fire in April, 1861, and used since 
that time in the manufacture and repair of arms for the Con- 
federate troops. Every building was knocked down and 
burned, and every piece of machinery utterly broken up and 
ruined, by the First Regiment Michigan Engineers, under the 
immediate supervision of Colonel O. M. Poe, chief-engineer 
of the Military Division. Much valuable property of great 
use to an enemy was here destroyed, or cast into the river. 

Up to this period, Sherman had perfectly succeeded in in- 
terposing his superior army between the scattered parts of the 
enemy. But the fragments that had left Columbia under 
Beauregard had been re-enforced by Cheatham's corps fi-om 
the West and the garrison of Augusta, and ample time had 
been given to move them to Sherman's front and flank about 
Raleigh. Hardee had also succeeded in getting across Cape 
Fear River, and could therefore complete the junction with 
Hoke. These forces, when once united, would constitute an 
army, probably superior to Sherman's in cavahy and formida- 
ble enough in artillery and infantry to justify him in extreme 
caution in taking the last step necessary to complete the 
march. Sherman accordingly sent orders to Schofiekl to move 
immediately, with aU his available force, directly on Goldsboro', 



368 SHERMAN AND HIS CiiMPAIGNS. 

aiming to reacli that place nearly simultaneously with the main 
army on the 20th of March. While the work of destruction 
was gouig on at Fayetteville, two pontoon bridges were laid 
across Cape Fear Eiver, one opposite the town, the other three 
miles below it. 

General Kilpatrick was ordered to move up the plank-road 
to and beyond Averysboro'. He was to be followed by four 
divisions of Slocum's left wing, with as few wagons as possi- 
ble ; the rest of the train, under escort of the two remaining 
divisions of that wing, to take a shorter and more direct road 
to Goldsboro'. In hke manner. General Howard was ordered 
to send his trains, under good escort, well to the right, to- 
ward Faison's Depot and Goldsboro', and to hold four divi- 
sions light, ready to go to the aid of the left wing if attacked 
while in motion. 

The weather continued very bad, and the roads had become 
a mere quagmire. Almost every foot of them had to be cordu- 
royed to admit the passage of wheels. Still, time was so im- 
portant, that punctually, according to orders, the columns 
moved out from Cape Fear River on Wednesday, the 15th of 
March 

General Sherman himself accompanied General Slocum, 
who, preceded by Kilpatrick's cavalry, moved up the river or 
plank-road that day to Kyle's Landing, Kilpatrick skirmisliing 
heavily with the enemy's rear-guard about three miles bej'ond, 
near Taylor's Hole Creek. At GeneraL Kilpatrick's request. 
General Slocum sent forward a brigade of infantry to hold a 
line of barricades. 

Next morning, the 16th, the column advanced in the same 
order, and developed the enemy, with artillery, infantry, and 
cavalry, in an intrenched position in front of the point where 
the road branches off towards Goldsboro' through Benton ville. 

Hardee, in retreating from Fayetteville, had halted in the 
narrow swampy neck between Cape Fear and South rivers, in 
the hope of holding Sherman there, in order to save time for 
the concentration of Johnston's armies at some point to his 
rear, such as Kaleigh, Smithficld, or Goldsboro'. Hardee's force 





B ■F.ichardson, Putlislier- 



TO GOLDSBORO'. 



369 



was now estimated by General Sherman at twenty thousand 
men. It was necessary to dislodge him, that the advancing 
army might have the use of the Goldsboro' road, as also to 
keep up the feint on Ealeigh as long as possible. General 
Slocum was therefore ordered to press and carry the position, 
only difficult by reason of the nature of the ground, which was 
so soft that horses would sink everywhere, and even men could 
hardly make their way over the common pine-barren. 

Williams' twentieth corps had the lead, and Ward's 
division the advance. This was deployed, and the skirmish 
hue developed the position of Khett's brigade of Confederate 
Heavy Artillery, armed as infantry, posted across the road 
behind a light parapet, with a battery of guns enfilading the 
aj)proach across a cleared field. General Williams sent Case's 
brigade by a circuit to his left, turned this hne, and by a 
quick charge broke Rhett's brigade, which rapidly retreated 
to a second line better constructed and more strongly held. 
Winnegar's battery of artillery, well posted, under the imme- 
diate direction of Major Reynolds, chief of artillery of Williams' 
corps, did good execution on the retreating brigade, and, on 
advancing Ward's division of the Twentieth Corps over this 
ground. General Williams captured three guns and two hun- 
dred and seventeen prisoners, of whom sixty-eight were 
wounded and left in a neighboring house vvith a rebel oflicer 
four men, and five days' rations. As Ward's division advanced, 
the enemy developed a second and stronger Hue, when Jack- 
son's division was deployed forward on the right of Ward, and 
the two divisions of Jefferson C. Davis' fourteenth corps on the 
left, well towards the Cape Fear Eiver. At the same time, Kil- 
patrick, who was acting in concert with General Williams, wa^ 
ordered to draw back his cavalry, and mass it on the extreme 
right, and, in concert with Jackson's right, to feel forward for 
the Goldsboro' road. He got a brigade on the road, but it 
was furiously attacked by McLaws' rebel division, and though 
it fought well and hard, was compelled to return to the flank 
of the infantry. The whole Une advanced late in the afternoon, 
drove the enemy well within his intrenched line, and ^Dressed 

24 



370 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

him SO liard, tliat next morning lie was gone, liaving retreated 
in a verj stormy night over the worst of roads. 

The aggregate loss of the left wing, in the battle of Averys- 
boro', was twelve officers and sixty-five men killed, and four 
hundred and seventy-seven wounded. 

Ward's division followed to and through Averysboro', de- 
veloping the fact that Hardee had retreated, not on Ealeigh, 
but on Smithfield. Sherman had the night before directed 
KHpatrick to cross South Kiver at a mill-dam to the right rear, 
and move up on the east side towards Elevation. 

Leaving Ward's division to keep up a show of pursuit, 
Slocum's column was turned to the right, built a bridge across 
the swollen South Kiver, and took the Goldsboro' road, Kil- 
patrick crossing to the north in the direction of Elevation, 
with orders to move eastward, watching that flank. In the 
mean time, the wagon-trains and guards, as also Howard's 
column, were wallowing along the miry roads towards Ben- 
tonville and Goldsboro'. The enemy's infantry, as before 
stated, had retreated on Smithfield, and his cavalry retired 
across Sherman's front in the same direction, burning the 
bridges over Mill Creek. 

Sherman continued with the head of Slocum's column, and 
encamped, on the night of the 18th, with him on the Goldsboro' 
road, twenty-seven miles from Goldsboro' and about five miles 
from Bentonville, at a point where the road from Clinton to 
Smithfield crosses the Goldsboro' road. Howard was at Lee's 
Store, only two miles south of that place, and both columns 
had pickets thrown three miles forward to the point where 
the two roads unite and become common to Goldsboro'. 
• Every indication conduced to the behef that the enemy 
would make no further oj)position to Sherman's progress, and 
would not attempt to strike him in flank while in motion. 
Accordingly, directing Howard to move his right wing by the 
new Goldsboro' road, by way of Falling Creek Church, Sher- 
man in person joined Howard's column, with a view to open 
communication with General Schofield, coming up from New- 
bern, and Terry from Wilmington. He found General Howard's 



TO GOLDSRORO'. 37I 

column well strung out, owing to the very bad roads, and 
did not overtake him in person until he had reached Falling 
Creek Church, with one regiment thrown forward to the 
cross-roads near Cox's Bridge across the Neuse. The gen- 
eral had reached a distance of about six miles from General 
Slocum when he heard artillery in that direction, but was soon 
made easy by one of his staff-officers overtaking him, explain- 
ing that Carlin's division of the Fourteenth Corps, leading, had 
encountered Dibbrell's division of rebel cavalry, which it was 
easily driving. But soon other staff-officers came up, report- 
ing that Slocum had develojjed near Bentonville the whole of 
the rebel army under General Johnston himself. Sherman 
immediately sent orders to Slocum to call up the two divisions 
guarding his wagon-trains, and Hazen's division of the Fif- 
teenth Corps, still back near Lee's Store ; and to fight de- 
fensively until Blair's corps, then near Mount Ohve Station, 
with the three remaining divisions of the Fifteenth Corps, 
came up on Johnston's left rear from the direction of Cox's 
Bridge. 

In the mean time, while on the road, Sherman received a 
courier from General Schofield, who reported himseK in 
possession of Kinston, somewhat delayed by want of pro- 
visions, but able to march so as to make Goldsboro' on the 
21st. A dispatch also arrived from General Terry, who was at 
or near Faison's Depot, 

Sherman at once sent orders to Schofield to push for Golds- 
boro', and to make dispositions to cross Little River in the 
direction of Smithfield as far as Millard ; to General Terry to 
move to Cox's Bridge, lay a pontoon bridge, and estabhsh a 
crossing ; and to General Blair to make a night march to 
Falling Creek Church ; and at dayhght, the right wing, under 
General Howard, less the necessary wagon guards, was put in 
rapid motion on Bentonville. General Slocum's head of col- 
umn had advanced from its camp of March 18th, and first 
encountered Dibbrell's cavalry, but soon found his progress 
impeded by infantry and artillery. The enemy attacked his 
advance guard, gaining a temj)orary advantage, and took 



372 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

three guns and caissons from Carlin's division of Davis' four- 
teenth corps, driving the two leading brigades back on the 
main body. As soon as General Slocum reahzed that he had 
in his front the whole Confederate army, he promptly de- 
ployed the two divisions of Davis' fourteenth corps, and rap- 
idly brought up on their left the two divisions of Williams' 
twentieth corps. These he arranged on the defensive, and 
hastily prepared a line of barricades. General Kilpatrick 
also came up at the sound of artillery, and massed on the 
left. In this position, the left w^ing received six distinct 
assaults by the combined forces of Hoke, Hardee, and Cheat- 
ham, under the immediate command of General Johnston 
himself, without giving an inch of ground, and doing good 
execution on the enemy's ranks, especially with artillery, 
whereof the enemy had httle or none. 

Johnston had moved by night from Smithfield with great 
rapidity, and without unnecessary wheels, intending to over- 
whelm Sherman's left flank before it could be relieved by its 
co-operating columns. But Sherman had all along expected 
just such a movement, and was prepared for it. 

During the night of the 19th, General Slocum got up his 
wagon-train with its guard of two divisions, and Hazen's 
division of the Fifteenth Corps, which re-enforcement enabled 
him to make his position imj)regnable. The right wing found 
the Confederate cavalry watching its approach, but unable to 
offer any serious opposition until the head of column encoun- 
tered a considerable bod}^ behind a barricade at the forks of 
the road near Bentonville, about three miles east of the battle- 
field of the day before. This force was, however, quickly dis- 
lodged, and the intersection of the roads secured. On moving- 
forward the Fifteenth Corps, General Logan found that the 
enemy had thrown back his left flank, and had constructed a 
line of parapet connecting with that towards General Slocum, 
in the general form of a bastion, having its salient on the 
main Goldsboro' road, interposed between General Slocum on 
the west and General Howard on the east, while the flanks 
rested on Mill Creek, covering the road back to Smithfield. 



TO GOLDSBORO'. 



373 



Slierman instructed General Howard to proceed with due 
caution until lie should have made a strong connection on his 
left with General Slocum. This he soon accomplished, and, 
by four p. m. of the 20th, a complete and strong line of battle 
confronted the enemy in his intrenched position, and General 
Johnson, instead of catching Sherman's army in detail, as he 
had designed, was himself on the defensive, with Mill Creek in 
his rear, spanned by but a single bridge. Nevertheless, Sher- 
man having no object to accomphsh by a battle, unless at an 
advantage, continued to press steadily forward with skirmish- 
ers alone, using artillery fi'eely on the wooded space held by 
the enemy, and feehng strongly the flanks of his position, 
which were as usual covered by the endless swamps of this 
region of country. He also ordered all empty wagons to be 
sent at once to Kinston for supplies, and all other impedi- 
ments to be grouped near the Neuse, south of Goldsboro', 
holding the main army in close contact with the enemy, ready 
to fight him if he should venture outside of his parapets and 
obstructions. 

Immediately upon the occupation of Kinston, General Scho- 
field put a large force of troops to work upon the railway, in 
aid of the Construction Corps under Colonel W. W. Wright, 
rebuilt -the wagon-bridge over the Neuse, and brought forward 
supplies, preparatory to a further advance. 

Schofield moved fi'om Kinston on the morning of the 20th, 
and entered Goldsboro' with but slight opposition on the 
evening of the 21st. 

The portion of his command w^hicli had remained at "\^'il- 
mington, under Major-General Terry, moved thence on the 
15th of March, reached Faison's Depot on the 20th, and in 
comphance with the orders just cited, moved from that point 
to Cox's Bridge, and secured a crossing of the Neuse on 
the 22d. 

Thus, the main army, under Sherman in person, being at 
Bentonville in the situation described. General Schofield oc- 
cupying Goldsboro', and General Terry holding the Neuse 
Eiver, ten miles above, the three armies w^ere in actual connec 



374 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

tion, holding botli banks of the Neuse and haying free com- 
munication with the sea, by the river and the double line of 
railway to Newbern and Wilmington, and the great object of 
the campaign was accomplished. 

On the 21st of March, a steady rain prevailed, during which 
Mower's division of Blair's seventeenth corps, on the extreme 
right of the main army, worked well to the right around the 
enemy's flank, and nearly reached the bridge across Mill Creek, 
the only hne of retreat open to the enemy. Of course, there 
was extreme danger that the enemy would turn on him all his 
reserve, and, it might be, let go his parapets to overwhelm 
Mower. Accordingly, Sherman at once ordered a general 
attack by the skirmish line fi'om left to right. Quite a noisy 
battle ensued, during which General Mower was enabled to 
regain his connection with his own corps by moving to his left 
rear. He had developed a weakness in the enemy's position 
of which advantage might have been taken ; but that night the 
enemy retreated on Smithfield, leaving his pickets to be taken 
prisoners, with many dead unburied, and wounded in his field 
hospitals. 

At daybreak of the 22d, pursuit was made two mUes beyond 
MlU Creek, but checked by Sherman's order. 

Slocum's left wing lost at Beutonville nine officers and one 
hundred and forty-five men killed, fifty-one officers and eight 
hundred and sixteen men wounded, and three officers and two 
hundred and twenty-three men missing — taken prisoners by 
the enemy ; total, twelve hundred and forty-seven. 

Howard's right wing lost two officers and thirty-five men 
kiUed, twelve officers and two hundred and eighty-nine men 
wounded, and one officer and sixty men missing ; total, three 
hundred and ninety-nine. 

Kilpatrick's cavalry was held in reserve. His loss was 
trifling. The aggregate loss of the army at Bentonville was 
sixteen hundred and forty-six. 

Two hundred and sixty-seven of the Confederates were 
buried on the field by the two wings, and sixteen hundred and 
twenty-five made prisoners. 



TO GOLDSBORO'. 375 

Leaving General Howard with tlie right wing and Kilpa- 
trick's cavaby at Bentonville during the 22d, to bury the dead 
and remove the wounded, on the following day all the armies 
moved to the camps assigned them about Goldsboro', there 
to receive the clothing and supplies of which they stood in 
need. Sherman went in person on the 22d to Cox's Bridge to 
meet General Terry, and on the following day rode into Golds- 
boro', where he found General Schofield and his army. The 
left wing came in during the same day and next morning, and 
the right wing followed on the 24th, on which day the cavahy 
moved to Mount OHve Station and General Terry back to 
Faison's. 

In the mean time the Railway Construction Corps, under 
the superintendence of the indefatigable Colonel Wright, had 
been actively at work repairing the railways leading to Wil- 
mington and Newbern. As early as the 25th of March, only 
four days after the occupation of Goldsboro', the latter hne 
was finished and the first train of cars came in, and the ample 
supphes provided at Morehead City, by the forethought of 
General Grant, began to come forward to the army. 

Sherman, in his ofiicial report of the campaign, thus sums 
up its results : — 

" I cannot, even with any degree of precision, recapitulate 
the vast amount of injury done the enemy, or the quantity of 
guns and materials of war captured and destroyed. In general 
terms, w^e have traversed the country fi'om Savannah to Golds- 
boro', with an average breadth of forty miles, consuming all 
the forage, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, cured meats, corn- 
meal, etc. The public enemy, instead of drawing supphes 
from that region to feed his armies, will be compelled to send 
provisions from other quarters to feed the inhabitants. A 
map herewith, prepared by my chief engineer, Colonel Poe, 
with the routes of the four corps and cavahy, wiU show at a 
glance the country traversed. Of course the abandonment to 
us by the enemy of the whole sea-coast fi'om Savannah to 
Newbern, North Carolina, with its forts, dock-yards, gun- 



376 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

boats, etc., was a necessary incident to our occupation and 
destruction of the inland routes of travel and supply. But the 
real object of this march was to place this army in a position 
easy of supply, whence it could take an appropriate part in the 
spring and summer campaigns of 1865. This was completely 
accomplished on the 21st of March by the junction of the three 
armies and occupation of Goldsboro'. 

" In conclusion, I beg to express, in the most emphatic 
manner, my entire satisfaction with the tone and temper of the 
whole army. Nothing seems to dampen their energy, zeal, 
or cheerfulness. It is impossible to conceive a march involving 
more labor and exposure, yet I cannot recall an instance of 
bad temper by the way, or hearing an expression of doubt as 
to our perfect success in the end. I beheve that this cheer- 
fulness and harmony of action reflects upon all concerned 
quite as much real honor and fame as ' battles gained ' or 
' cities won,' and I therefore commend all, generals, staff, 
officers, and men, for these high qualities, in addition to the 
more soldierly ones of obedience to orders and the alacrity 
they have always manifested when danger summoned them 
' to the fi'ont.' " 

We have already remarked that the failure to defend 
Columbia was the turning point of the campaign, and neces- 
sarily involved its loss, since it enabled Sherman to move 
either on Charlotte or Fayetteville at his pleasure, and com- 
pelled Johnston to sacrifice one of these lines to the defence 
of the other. In like manner, the inability to cripple Sher- 
man's army in detail, and thus prevent his occuj)ation of Golds- 
boro', carried with it the impossibility of preventing his junc- 
tion with the Army of the Potomac. For, should Johnston 
attempt to oppose Sherman in his progTess to the Koauoke, 
on the Weldon road, he must necessarily expose himseK to the 
danger of having his right turned and being compelled to 
fight a battle between the Neuse and the Eoanoke, with his 
back to the sea. Should he retire behind the Koanoke to 
dispute its passage, his rear would be at the mercy of Grant, 



TO G0LDS30R0'. 



377 



and with a large river and a powerful enemy in Lis front, lie 
must tlien choose whether to abandon the attempt or submit 
to be hemmed in without supphes. Again, if Johnston should 
decide to refuse his left and retire on Raleigh or on the south 
bank of the Neuse, he would, by that very act, abandon all hope 
of being able to restrain the accompHshment of his adversary's 
purpose. The last alternative, though ineffectual to oppose 
Sherman, was the best of the three, being the only pne that 
did not point to immediate destruction, and it was the one 
which General Johnston promptly and very properly adopted. 



378 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE XXX. 

THE LAST STEOKE. 

Sherman immediately began to prepare for tlie new cam- 
paign. 

On the 24th of March, the day after his arrival at Golds- 
boro', he issued the following orders for the reorganization 
and supply of the army as the first step in that direction : — 

" I. Major-General Schofield, commanding the Department 
of North Carolina, will, out of the troops of his command, 
organize a force equivalent to two corps, or five divisions, and 
proceed to equip them in the most complete manner for field 
service. This force, while operating with the other armies in 
the field, will be styled the ' Centre.' For the present, Gen- 
eral Schofield will post his command to hold Goldsboro', and 
cover the raiboad back to Wilmington and Morehead City. 
He will also aid the railroad department with details, to 
enable it to finish, in the shortest possible time, the two roads, 
and equip them for service. 

" II. Colonel W.' W. "Wright, of the railroad department, 
will use extraordinary means, night and day, to complete the 
two railroads from Goldsboro' back to Morehead City and 
Wilmington, and to equip them to the capacity of three hun- 
dred tons per day of freight. 

" He may pay any price for labor, call for details of soldiers, 
and draw roUing-stock fi'om Savannah, Charleston, or any 
point within this command, and all commanding officers and 
quartermasters will give preference to the shipment of such 
stock over any other work whatever, not involving life. The 



THE LAST STROKE. 



379 



work of these railroads is limited and restricted to tlie trans- 
portation in the order following : ' Army stores' — 1. Ammuni- 
tion ; 2. Food for men; 3. Clothing for men; 4. Grain for 
animals ; 5. Camp and garrison equipage ; 6. Hay and long 
forage. 

" Until there is an accumulation of suppHes at Goldsboro', 
enough to fill the wagons of the army, no officer, soldier, or 
citizen, or any private stores whatever, will be carried on the 
up trip, unless it be mail matter, and officers or couriers bear- 
ing orders for army headquarters, nor these to exceed one car- 
load per day. All else must march or use horses and wagons, 
from the salt-water to Goldsboro', until the army is thorough- 
ly clothed and equipped. Keturn cars may load according to 
the discretion of the quartermaster in charge, provided there 
be no delay. 

" To facilitate the completion of these roads, Colonel Poe 
will cause the First Michigan Engineers to work back towards 
Newbern. General Howard will cause to be built the raikoad 
over the Neuse, near Goldsboro' ; General Slocum, the wagon- 
road bridge on the Mount Olive road, and General Schofield 
the railroad-bridge over Northeast Branch, near Wilmington, 
leaving Colonel Wright with his working parties to look after 
the laying or ballasting the track, and getting the cars in 
motion. 

" III. The chief quartermaster and commissary of the army 
in the field. Generals Easton and Beckwith, will repair at 
once to Goldsboro', and there control the movement of sup- 
plies according to the necessities of the army and orders 
issued at these headquarters. All estimates and requisitions 
will be addressed accordingly. 

" IV. The rigloit wing of the army will group to the front 
and right of Goldsboro', looking north ; the left wing, in front 
and left of Goldsboro' ; the centre to Goldsboro', with detach- 
ments to cover the railroads to the rear. The cavalry will be 
posted at or near Mount OHve Station. AH vnU send forag- 
ing-parties into the country, being careful to have them strong 
enough and weU guarded." 



380 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS, 

Slocum's left wing now adopted the title of the Army oi 
Georgia, and Major-General Joseph A. Mower succeeded 
General WiUiams in the command of the Twentieth Corps. 

The centre, under Schofield, composed of the Tenth and 
Twenty-third Army Corps, respectively. commanded by Major- 
General Alfred H. Terry and Jacob D. Cox, perpetuated the 
use of the name of the Army of the Ohio, hitherto belonging 
only to the latter organization. Terry's tenth corps consisted 
of the divisions of Brigadier and Breve-t Major-General Adel- 
bert Ames and Brigadier-General Charles J. Paine. Cox's 
twenty-third corps comprised the divisions of Brigadier-Gen- 
erals Darius N. Couch, Thomas H. Ruger, and John T. Reilly. 

The right wing, under Howard, still retained its original 
designation as the Ai-my of the Tennessee, and was composed, 
as during the preceding campaign, of Logan's fifteenth and 
Blair's seventeenth army corps. 

Having given the directions just quoted, Sherman turned 
over the chief command of his army to Major-General Scho- 
field, the next in rank, and hastened to City Point, to have an 
interview with Lieutenant-General Grant, for the purpose of 
arranging the time and manner of their co-operation during 
the coming campaign. He arrived at General Grant's head- 
quarters on the evening of the 27th of March, and there met 
President Lincoln, for the first time since the year 1861, Gen- 
eral Grant himself, and Generals Meade andOrd, commanding 
the Armies of the Potomac and James. After a long and full 
conference as to the campaign just closed, and the final opera- 
tions now proposed, General Sherman received his instructions 
from General Grant, and set out on the naval dispatch-boat 
Bat, to return, by way of Hatteras Inlet and Newbern, to his 
headquarters at Goldsborq', where he arrived on the night of 
the 30th of March. 

General Sherman had informed General Grant that the 10th 
of April would be the earhest date at which he could be ready 
to move, and all thiags were now arranged accordingly. 

The troops were still busy in repairing the w^ear and tear of 
their recent hard march from Savannah, and in replenishing 



THE LAST STROKE. og]^ 

clothing and stores necessary for a further progress. Owing 
to a mistake in the railway department in sending locomotives 
and cars of the five-foot guage, the army was now hmited to 
the use of the few locomotives and cars of the four-foot eighi- 
and-a-half-inch guage already in North Carolina, with such of 
the old stock as was captured by Major-General Terry at Wil- 
mington and on his way up to Goldsboro'. Yet such judi- 
cious use was made of them, and such industry displayed in the 
railway management by Generals Easton and Beckwith,. Colo- 
nel Wright and Mr. Van Dyne, his assistant, that by the 10th 
of April all the men were clad, the wagons reloaded, and a 
sufficient amount of forage accumulated for the proposed 
march. 

On the 5th of April, Sherman issued the following orders for 
the guidance of his army and corps commanders, and heads 
of staff departments : — 

" The next grand objective is to place this army with its full 
equipment north of Eoanoke Eiver, facing west, with a base of 
supphes at Norfolk and at Wynton, or Murfreesboro' on the 
Chowan, and in full communication with the Army of the Po- 
tomac, about Petersburg, and also to do the enemy as much 
harm as possible en route. 

" I. To accomplish this result, the following general plan 
will be followed, or modified only by written orders from these 
headquarters, should events require a change : — 

"1st. On Monday, the 10th of April, all preparations are 
presumed to be completed, and the outlaying detachments will 
be called in, or given directions to meet on the next march. AH 
preparations will also be completed to place the railway stock 
back of Eanston on the one road, and below the Northeast 
Branch on the other. 

" 2d. On Tuesday, the 11th, the columns will draw out on 
their lines of march, say about seven miles, and close up. 

" 3d. On Wednesday, the march will begin in earnest, and 
will be kept up at the rate say of about twelve miles a day, or 
according to the amount of resistance. AU the columns wiU 



382 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

dress to the left, wliicli is tlie exposed flank, and commanders 
will study always to find roads by which, they can, if necessary, 
perform a general left wheel ; the wagons to be escorted on to 
some place of security on the direct route of march. 

" Foraging and other details may continue as heretofore, only 
more caution and prudence should be observed, and foragers 
should not go in advance of the advance guard, but look more 
to our right-rear for corn, bacon, and meal. 

"II. The left wing, Major-General Slocum commanding, 
will aim straight for the railway bridge near Smithfield, thence 
along up the Neuse River to the railway bridge over Neuse 
Eiver, northeast of Ealeigh (Powell's), thence to "Warrenton, 
the general point of concentration. The centre, Major-Gen- 
eral Schofield commanding, will move to Whitley's Mill, ready 
to support the left until it is past Smithfield, when it will follow 
up, substantially, Little River to Rolesville, ready at all times 
to march to the support of the left, after passing Tar River, 
en route to Warrenton. 

" The right wing, Major-General Howard commanding, pre- 
ceded by the cavalry, will move rapidly on Pikeville and Folk's 
Bridge, ready to make a junction with the other armies in case 
the enemy offers battle this side of Neuse River about Smith- 
field, thence, in case of no serious opposition on the left, will 
workup towards Earpsboro', Andrews' Bridge, and Warrenton. 

" The cavalry. General Kilpatrick commanding, leaving 
its encumbrances with the right wing, will push as though 
straight for Weldon, until the enemy is across Tar River and 
that bridge burned ; then it will deflect towards Nashville and 
Warrenton, keeping up a general communication with general 
headquarters. 

" III. As soon as the army starts, the chief quartermaster 
and commissary will prepare a supply of stores at some point 
in Pamlico and Albemarle sounds, ready to be conveyed to 
Kinston, or Wynton and Murfreesboro', according to develop- 
ments. As soon as they have satisfactory information that 
the army is north of the Roanoke, they will forthwith estabhsh 
a depot at Wynton with a sub-depot at Murfi'eesboro'. 



TEE LAST STROKE. 



383 



" Major-General Schofield will hold, as heretofore, Wilmino-- 
ton, with the bridge across Northeast Branch as an outpost, 
Newborn and Kinston as its outpost, and will be prepared to 
hold Wyuton and Murfreesboro' as soon as the time arrives 
for that move. The navy has instructions from Admiral Por- 
ter to co-operate, and any commanding officer is authorized to 
call on the navy for assistance and co-operation, always in 
writing, setting forth the reasons, — of which, of necessity, the 
naval commander is the judge. 

" IV. The general-in-chief will be with the centre habitually, 
but may in person shift to either flank where his presence may 
be needed, leaving a staff-officer to receive reports. He re- 
quires absolutely a report of each army or grand detachment 
each night, whether any thing material has occurred or not : 
often the absence of an enemy is a very important fact in mil- 
itary prognostication." 

In the mean time, Major-General George Stoneman, in com- 
mand of a division of cavalry, operating fi'om East Tennessee 
in connection with Major-General Thomas, in pursuance of 
Sherman's previous orders, had reached the railway about 
Greensboro', N. C, had utterly destroyed it, and had pushed 
along it to Salisbury, destroying in his march bridges, cul- 
verts, depots, and all kinds of rebel suppHes, and had ex- 
tended the breach in the railway down to the Catawba Bridge. 
This was fatal to the hostile armies of Lee and Johnston, who 
depended on that road for supphes, and as their ultimate Une 
of retreat. 

Brevet Major-General J. H. "Wilson, in command of the 
cavalry corps organized by himself, under the orders issued 
by Sherman before turning south from his pursuit of Hood 
into Tennessee, had started from the neighborhood of De- 
catur and Florence, Alabama, and moved straight into the 
heart of Alabama, on a route prescribed for General Thomas 
after he had defeated General Hood at Nashville, Tennes- 
see. But the road being too heavy for infantry, and Gen- 
eral Thomas being abeady greatly weakened by detachments 



384 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

for service in other quarters, lie liad devolved tlie duty on 
that most energetic young cavalry officer, General Wilson, 
who, imbued with the projser spirit, thus struck one of the best 
blows of the war at the waning strength of the Confederacy. 
His route by Tuscaloosa, Selma, Montgomery, Columbus, and 
Macon, being one never before traversed by the Union troops, 
afforded him ample supplies for men and animals as long as 
his column was in motion. 

Meanwhile, Grant was intently watching Lee, seeking to 
fathom his course under the new combinations now being 
developed. K Lee should remain behind his hues at Peters- 
burg, in the passive defensive attitude he had for so many 
months successfully maintained, his defeat and destruction 
would be almost mathematically certain the moment Sherman 
should cross the Roanoke ; and this, as we have shown, John- 
ston was powerless to prevent. On the other hand, the Con- 
federate general might summon Johnston, by forced marches, 
to his aid, while Sherman was refitting and getting ready to 
move, and then, with the two armies united, strike Grant a 
vigorous blow ; but the two armies united would not possess 
sufficient strength to overpower Grant's army, behind its 
secure intrenchments : and before even the semblance of a 
siege could be undertaken, even supposing the Confederates 
to possess the means for such a task, Sherman would arrive, 
and the game would be lost, for the only remaining Confeder- 
ate forces would find themselves in a cul-de-sac, without 
present means of subsistmg so large a number of men, and 
without a possibility of escape. Lee's best alternative was 
undoubtedly to be sought in a junction with Johnston at 
Raleigh or on the north bank of the Neuse, and a vigorous 
blow for Sherman's destruction before Grant could follow. 

It was for the first signs of the adoption of such a course 
that Grant now looked with sleepless eyes. There was but one 
way to meet it — to strike the evacuating column in air, in the 
first moment of retreat, and force it to a battl'e. Accordingly, 
on the last day of March, thinking he saw the symptoms of 
such a movement, Grant struck. After a series of battles, 



THE LAST STROKE. 



385 



among the most determined and sanguinary of tlie entire 
war, on the 3d of April his line crushed Lee's shell at all 
points, and by the next morning Petersburg and Pdchmond 
were evacuated ; Lee, with the remnants of his army, was in 
fidl flight, his men scattering Hke chaff before the wind ; and 
the officers of the Confederate government were individual 
fugitives, vainly seeking the protecting wing of the remains of 
their armies. 

The news of the battles about Petersburg reached Sherman 
at Goldsboro', on the 6th of April. Tip to that time his pur- 
pose was, as we have already seen, to move rapidly northward, 
feigning on Ealeigh, and striking straight for Burkesville, 
thereby interposing between Johnston and Lee. But the 
problem was now greatly changed, and, in the expressive lan- 
guage of Lieutenant-General Grant in his instructions to 
Sherman, the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston be- 
came the strategic points. General Grant was fully able to 
take care of the former, and Sherman's task was to destroy 
or capture the latter. 

Johnston at that time had his army well in hand about 
Smithfield. Sherman estimated his infantry and artillery at 
thii'ty-five thousand, and his cavalry from six to ten thousand. 
Thus deeming his adversary superior in cavalry, General Kil- 
patrick was held in reserve at Mount OHve, wdth orders to re- 
cruit his horses, and be ready to make a sudden and rapid 
march on the 10th of April. 

At daybreak on the day appointed all the heads of col- 
umns were in motion against the enemy ; — Major-General 
Slocum taking the two direct roads for Smithfield ; Major- 
General Howard making a circuit by the right, and feigning 
up the Weldon road to disconcert the enemy's cavahy ; and 
Generals Terry and Kilpatrick moving on the west side of the 
Neuse River, aiming to reach the rear of the enemy between 
Smithfield and Pialeigh. General Schofield followed General 
Slocum in support. All the columns met, within six miles of 
Goldsboro', more or less cavalry, behind the usual rail barri- 
cades, which were swept before them, and by ten A. m. of the 

25 



386 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

lltli Davis' fourteenth corps entered Smitlifield, closely fol- 
lowed by Mower's twentieth corps. 

Johnston had rapidly retreated across the Neuse River, and 
having his railway to hghten up his trains, could fall back 
faster than Sherman could pursue. The rains had also set in, 
making the resort to corduroy absolutely necessary for the 
passage even of ambulances. The enemy had burned the 
bridge at Smithfield, and as soon as possible General Slocum 
got his pontoons up, and crossed over a division of the Four- 
teenth Corps. 

" Then," says Sherman, " we heard of the surrender of 
Lee's army at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, which was 
announced to the armies in orders, and created universal joy. 
Not one officer or soldier of my army but expressed a pride 
and satisfaction that it fell to the lot of the Armies of the 
Potomac and James so gloriously to overwhelm and capture 
the entire army that had held them in check so long ; and 
their success gave us new impulse to finish ujd our task." 

"Without a moment's hesitation, Sherman gave orders to 
drop all trains, and the army marched rapidly in pursuit to 
and through Raleigh, reachmg that place at half-past seven 
A. M. on the 13th, in a heavy rain. 

The next day the cavalry pushed on through the rain to 
Durham's Station, Logan's fifteenth corps following as far as 
Morrisville Station, and Blair's seventeenth corps to John's Sta- 
tion. On the supposition that Johnston was tied to his railway, 
as a Une of retreat by Hillsboro', Greenboro', Salisbury, and 
Charlotte, Sherman had turned the other columns across the 
bend in that road towards Ashboro'. Kiljoatrick was ordered to 
keep up a show of pursuit towards the Company's Shops, in 
Almancer County ; Howard to turn the left by Hackney's Cross- 
roads, Pittsburg, St. Lawrence, and Ashboro' ; Slocum to cross 
Cape Fear River at Avon's Ferry and move rapidly by Car- 
thage, Caledonia, and Cox's Mills ; while Schofield was to hold 
Raleigh and the road back, with spare force to follow by 
an intermediate route. 

By the 15th, though the rains were incessant, and the roads 



THE LAST STROKE. 387 

almost impracticable, Major-General Slocum had Jeflferson C. 
Davis' fourteenth corps near Martha's Vineyard, with a pon- 
toon bridge laid across Cape Fear Biver at Avon's Ferry, 
and Mower's twentieth corps in support ; and Major-General 
Howard had Logan's fifteenth and Blair's seventeenth corps 
stretched out on the roads towards Pittsboro' ; while General 
Kilpatrick held Durham's Station and Capitol Hill University. 

Johnston's army was retreating rapidly on the roads from 
Hillsboro' to Greensboro', he himself being at Greensboro'. 

Thus matters stood when General Sherman received a com- 
munication from General Johnston that arrested all hostile 
movements for the time being. 



388 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTER XXXL 

DAWN. 

From Smithfield, on tlie 12tli of April, Slierman wrote to 
General Grant : — 

" I have this moment received your telegram announcing 
the surrender of Lee's army. I hardly know how to express 
my feelings ; but you can imagine them. The terms you have 
given Lee are magnanimous and Hberal. Should Johnston 
follow Lee's example, of course I will grant the same. He is 
retreating before me on Ealeigh, and I shall be there to-mor- 
row. Koads are heavy and bad ; but under the inspiration of 
the news from you we can march twenty-five miles a day. I 
am twenty-eight miles from Kaleigh, but a part of my army 
is eight miles behind. If Johnston retreats south I will foUow 
him ; but I take it he will surrender at Raleigh. I shall expect 
to hear from General Sheridan in case Johnston does not sur- 
render, for in such case I will need a little more cavalry. I 
would make sure to captiu'e the whole army." 

When Sherman entered Raleigh, on the 13th, he found that 
the inhabitants had not heard of Lee's surrender, and could 
hardly credit the report. Johnston had retreated westward, and 
Sherman dispatched to Grant that he would move at once to 
Ashboro', Saulsbury, or Charlotte, according to circumstances. 

Kilpatrick, with most of the cavalry, had been left ten miles 
to the south and west of Smithfield, busy after the enemy's 
locomotives and railway trains, and had reported some cap- 
tures. He was now ordered to " keep pushing the enemy." 



DAWN. 389 

" To-night," writes Assistant Adjutant-General Dayton, " tho 
general will inform you of the coming move. The columns 
are closing up here now." 

Late on the same day, General Sherman wrote to Kil- 
patrick : — 

" I have been out and am just back, and hasten to answer 
yours of to-day. I will send a locomotive to bring uj) the 
cars you have captured. Send pickets along the road to ad- 
vise the conductor where to stop. It will take all day to- 
morrow to close up our trains, and to di'aw out on the new Hne 
of operations. Best your animals, and confine your opera- 
tions to mere feints, and get ready for work by day after to- 
morrow." 

On the 14th, Sherman had information that Johnston was 
about Greensboro' and Saulsbury, and had his troops ready to 
move in that direction. And again he writes to Kilpatrick : — 

" I sent you orders to-day, by which you will see I am to 
put my army where, if Johnston tries to pass out by Charlotte, 
I can strike him in flank, or, if he remains at Greensboro', I 
can capture the whole. All I expect of you is to keep up the 
delusion that we are following him via the University and 
Hillsboro' until I get my infantry heads of column across the 
Haw River, when I want you to cross also, and feel out to- 
wards Greensboro' till I get to Ashboro', where, if he remains 
at Greensboro', I can approach him from the south, and force 
him to battle, to surrender, or disperse. You will perceive we 
will save a couple of days by cutting across the bend in the 
direction of Saulsbury. I am anxious to prevent his escape 
towards Georgia." 

In the same letter General Sherman informed his chief of 
cavalry that on the following day General Howard would have 
one corps at Jones' Station, and another corps at Morrison's, 
and that on the day after aU would move by separate roads 



390 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

for Ashboro' ; and added : " The people liere manifest more 
signs of subjugation than I have yet seen ; but Jeff. Davis has 
more hves than a cat, and we must not trust him. If you 
reach the university do not burn its library, buildings, or spe- 
cific property." 

On the 14th of April, after aU the dispositions for the ad- 
vance on Raleigh had been completed. General Sherman re- 
ceived a communication from General Johnston, by a flag of 
truce, requesting an armistice, and a statement of the best 
terms on which he could be permitted to surrender the army 
under his command. General Sherman instantly dispatched 
his answer, and sent it through General Kilpatrick with a note 
of instruction, as follows : " The letter by flag of truce was 
from General Johnston, which is the beginning of the end. 
Herewith is my answer ; send it at once, and do not advance 
your cavalry beyond the university, or to a point abreast of it 
on the railway. I will be at Morris ville to-morrow." 

" I am fully empowered to arrange with you," he wrote to 
General Johnston, " any terms for the suspension of hostihties 
as between the armies commanded by you and those com- 
manded by myseK, and am willing to confer with you to that 
end. 

" That a basis of action may be had, I undertake to abide 
by the same terms and conditions entered into by Generals 
Grant and Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on the 
9th instant." 

On the evening of the same day, the three army commanders 
were informed of the communication just received from the 
enemy, and that under existing circumstances it was probable 
the long march contemplated, and for which such careful prep- 
aration had been made, might become unnecessary. General 
Schofield was nevertheless ordered to place one corps of the 
Army of the Ohio at Holly Springs, and the other just outside 
of Raleigh, in the direction of the proposed route, and there 
await further instructions. 

General Howard was directed to put one corps of the Army 
of the Tennessee at Morrisville, and the other at Jones' Station, 



DAWN. 391 

and then expect tlie arrival of the commander-in-chief at Mor- 
risville ; and General Slocum was ordered to remain as he then 
was until further orders. 

General Sherman then immediately prepared copies of his 
correspondence with General Johnston, and wrote to General 
Grant on the same day, as follows : — 

"I send copies of a correspondence begun with General 
Johnston, which I think will be followed by terms of capitula- 
tion. I will accept the same terms as General Grant gave 
General Lee, and be careful not to complicate any points of 
civil policy. If any cavalry has started towards me, caution 
them that they must be prepared to find our work done. It is 
now raining in torrents, and I shall await General Johnston's 
reply here, and will propose to meet him in person at Chapel 
Hill. I have invited Governor Vance to return to Raleigh 
with the civil officers of his State. I have met ex-Governor 
Graham, Mr. Badger, Moore, Holden, and others, all of whom 
agree that the war is over, and that the States of the South 
must reassume their allegiance, subject to the constitution and 
laws of Congress, and that the military power of the South 
must submit to the national arms. This great fact once ad- 
mitted, all the details are easy of arrangement." 

Meanwhile, Major McCoy, of General Sherman's staff, then 
at Durham's Station, was directed by General Sherman to re- 
main with Kilpatrick until Johnston's second communication 
should be brought within the lines ; so that, in case of neces- 
sity, the contents of the message could be sent over the tele- 
graphic wires, and an answer returned forthwith. But no 
message came from Johnston on that day. On the 16th, Sher- 
man wrote to Brevet Brigadier-General Easton, assistant 
quartermaster-general at Newbern : — " I expect every hour 
an answer from Johnston, and unless he makes clear and satis- 
factory terms to-day, I wiU start to-morrow towards Ashboro'. 
Hold youi-self in readiness to give us forage here (at Pialeigh) 
when the railway is done." On the same day, General Kil- 



392 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

patrick having telegraphed to General Sherman that he sus- 
pected bad faith on the part of Johnston, and suggested pos- 
sible surprise, and having described certain movements of the 
enemy, not consonant with the maintenance of the condition 
of thmgs existing at the time of the commencement of the 
armistice, Sherman replied : — " I have faith in General John- 
ston's personal sincerity, and do not believe he would resort 
to a subterfuge to cover his movements. He could not well 
stop the movement of his troops until he got my letter, which 

I now hear was delayed all day yesterday in sending 

it forward. But if Johnston does gain time on us by such 
we will make up for it at the expense of North Carolina. We 
will be all ready to move to-morrow if necessary." 

Later on the same day, the message from General Johnston 
was received by General Sherman, and the result made known 
to Generals Slocum, Howard, and Schofield, viz., that General 
Johnston desired' an interview with General Sherman, near 
Durham's Station, with a view to arrange terms of capitula- 
tion. Sherman fixed the time at twelve o'clock on the next 
day, the 17th. 

The meeting was had according to appointment. Sherman 
frankly tendered the same terms accorded by General Grant 
to General Lee. Johnston acknowledged the terms to be 
both fair and liberal, but asked the consideration of additional 
facts. He suggested the treaty between Generals Grant and 
Lee had reference to a part only of the Confederate forces, 
whereas he proposed the present agreement should include 
all the remaining armies of the Confederacy, and thus the war 
should be at an end. He admitted, frankly and candidly, 
there was no longer any ground for hope of success on the 
part of the Confederacy, " that the cause was lost," and that 
this admission included slavery, State rights, and every other 
claim for which the war had been inaugurated. And now he 
desired the fragments of the Confederate armies to preserve 
their company and regimental organizations, that they be 
marched to the States where they belonged in such order that 
they might not be broken up into predatory bands, to overmn 



DAWN. 393 

tlie country and vex tlie inhabitants ; and urged that that was 
the favorable occasion to inaugurate the beginning of a period 
of peace and good-will between all the people destined to hve 
under the same Government. 

Sherman declared that while he honored the motives of 
Johnston, and would be most happy to promote the results 
suggested, he had grave doubts whether he, Johnston, had the 
power to make a binding treaty beyond the usual capitulation 
entered into by and between commanders of armies when one 
surrenders, on terms, to the other. And if the needed au- 
thority did exist, so far as Johnston was concerned, he, Sher- 
man, did not deem himself in possession of the necessary 
power to bind the Government of the United States to such 
terms. 

As to the first objection, the lack of power on his part, 
General Johnston repUed that he felt sure he could satisfy 
General Sherman he had all necessary power in the premises, 
and suggested that the conference might be adjourned over 
until the next day, to enable him to confer with General 
Breckinridge, the Confederate secretary of war. And as to 
the second objection, he urged the repeated declarations of 
President Lincoln, that he was willing, at all times, to nego- 
tiate a peace with any person or persons who could control 
the Confederate armies. Finally, the convention was ad- 
journed until the next day at twelve o'clock a-t the same place. 
On the same day General Sherman wrote a letter to Colonel 
Webster at Newbern, to be telegraphed to General Grant, as 
follows : — 

" I have returned from a point twenty-seven mUes up the 
railroad, where I had a long interview with General Johnston, 
with a full and frank interchange of opinions. 

" He evidently seeks to make terms for Jefi". Davis and his 
cabinet. 

"He wanted to consult again with Mr. Breckinridge at 
Greensboro', and I have agi-eed to meet him at noon to-mor- 
row at the same place. 



394 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" We lose nothing in time, as, by agreement, both armies 
stand still ; and the roads are drying up, so that if I am forced 
to pursue, "will be able to make better speed. 

" There is great danger that the Confederate armies will 
- dissolve, and fiU the whole" land with robbers and assassins, 
and I think this is one of the difficulties that Johnston labors 
under. 

" The assassination of Mr. Lincoln shows one of the ele- 
ments in the rebel army which will be almost as difficult to 
deal with as the main armies. Communicate substance of this 
to General Grant ; and also, that if General Sheridan is march- 
ing down this way, to feel for me before striking the enemy. 

" I don't want Johnston's army to break up into fragments." 

It will be remembered that during his hurried visit to City 
Point to confer with General Grant, General Sherman also had 
the good fortune to meet President Lincoln, and freely inter- 
change views with liim. Any one who knows any thing of the 
personal opinions and desires of Mr. Lincoln, knows that, 
above all thiags, he deshed an end of the war on any terms 
that proposed a permanent peace. He was now, more than 
ever, impressed by the sacrifices and sufferings of the people 
on both sides of the contest. Here, in the neighborhood of 
Petersburg, he had seen war for the first time, and it har- 
rowed his generous soul to the very bottom. He walked over 
ground covered with the bodies of the slain, more numerous 
than he could count or cared to count ; he saw living men with 
broken heads and mangled forms, and heard the hopeless 
groans and piteous wails of the dying, whom no human hand 
could save ; he witnessed the bloody work of the surgeons — 
those carpenters and joiners of human frames — and saw am- 
putated legs and arms piled up in heaps to be carted away 
like the ofial of a slaughter-house ; and he turned from the 
horrid sight, exclaiming : "And tkis is war — Jiorrid tear — the 
trade of barbarians .'" And, appealing to his principal officers, 
he inquired : " Gentlemen, is there no way by which we can 
put a stop to this fighting ?" 



DAWN. 395 

The President was in this frame of mind when General 
Sherman reported to him at City Point. He had infused the 
same feehn^ among all the officers who were near him. He 
was wilhng to recognize the existence of State governments, 
to convene rebel State legislatures, to confer with rebel State 
civil officers, and to exercise the pardoning power to the ut- 
most extent ; in fact, to concede any thing that he could safely 
concede, and to do any thing that he could safely do, to end 
the war and restore the supremacy of the Government of the 
United States. 

Deeply impressed with these views, General Sherman re- 
turned to his command in North Carolina. 

On the 17th of April, the army was shocked by the appalling 
intelligence of President Lincoln's assassination on the evening 
of the 14th. The deep gloom which settled upon the hearts 
of men overshadowed a terrible determination. If there were 
those in the South who did not thoroughly detest this infamous 
and cowardly act, for them there need be no appeal for mercy. 

Sherman at once announced the melancholy news to the 
army in the following general orders : — 

" HEAOqUAKTEES MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, 

In the Field, Ealeigli, AprU 17, 18G5. 
SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, NO. 50. 

" The general commanding announces with pain and sorrow 
that, on the evening of the 11th instant, at the theatre in 
Washington City, his Excellency, the President of the United 
States, Mr. Lincoln, was assassinated by one who uttered the 
State motto of Vii'ginia. At the same time the secretary of 
state, Mr, Seward, whilst suffering from a broken arm, was 
also stabbed by another murderer in his own house, but still 
survives, and his son was wounded, supposed fatally. 

" It is believed by persons capable of judging, that other 
high officers were designed to share the same fate. Thus it 
seems that our enemy, despairing of meeting us in manly 
warfare, begin to resort to the assassin's tools. Your general 
does not wish you to infer that this is universal, for he knows 



396 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

that the great mass of the Confederate army would scorn to 
sanction such acts, but he believes it the legitimate consequence 
of rebellion against rightful authority. We have met every 
phase which this war has assumed, and must now be prepared 
for it in its last and worst shape, that of assassins and guerril- 
las ; but woe unto the people who seek to expend their wild 
passions in such a manner, for there is but one dread result. 
" By order of Majoe-Geneeal "W. T. Sheeman. 

" L. M. Dayton, Major and Asst. Adjt.-Gen." 

On the 18th of April negotiations were resumed. After the 
first meeting General Sherman conferred with his principal 
officers, aU of whom favored a treaty on the basis proposed by 
Johnston. The course pursued at Richmond, the general tone 
and spirit of the newspaper press, private letters from home, 
all indicated a general spirit of amnesty and forgiveness. It 
is a singular fact that soldiers who suffer privation, wounds, 
and death in the cause of their country, are much more forgiv- 
ing, generous, and considerate towards their enemies than 
their friends at home, who live in comfort and read their 
patriotic sentiments reflected in the morning papers. Finally, 
the following memorandum, or basis of agreement, was drawn 
up by General Sherman himself, which, for the time being, 
was satisfactory to all present as a proposition to be submitted 
to the President of the United States for ratification or re- 
jection : — 

" Memorandum, or basis of agreement, made this, the 18th 
day of April, A. D. 1865, near Durham's Station, in the State 
of North Carolina, by and betjveen General Joseph E. John- 
ston, commanding the Confederate army, and Major-General 
W. T. Sherman, commanding the Army of the United States, 
both present. 

" I. The contending armies now in the field to maintain the 
status quo until notice is given by the commanding general of 
any one to his opponent, and reasonable time, say forty-eight 
houi'S, allowed. 



DAWN. 



397 



" II. The Confederate armies now in existence to be dis- 
banded and conducted to tlieir several State capitals, there to 
deposit their arms and public property in the State arsenal ; 
and each officer and man to execute and file an agreement to 
cease from acts of war, and to abide the action of both State 
and Federal authorities. The number of arms and munitions 
of war to be reported to the chief of ordnance at Washington 
City, subject to the future action of the Congress of the United 
States, and in the mean time to be used solely to maintain 
peace and order within the borders of the States respectively. 

" III. The recognition by the executive of the United 
States of the several State governments, on their officers and 
legislatures taking the oath prescribed by the constitution of 
the United States ; and where conflicting State governments 
have resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be sub- 
mitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

" IV. The re-estabhshment of all Federal courts in the 
several States, with powers as defined by the constitution and 
laws of Congress. 

" V. The people and inhabitants of all States to be guaran- 
teed, so far as the Executive can, their political rights and 
franchise, as weU as their rights of person and property, as 
defined by the constitution of the United States and of the 
States respectively. 

" VI. The executive authority or Government of the United 
States not to disturb any of the peoj)le by reason of the late 
war, so long as they Hve in peace and quiet, and abstain from 
acts of armed hostility, and obey the laws in existence at the 
place of their residence. 

" VII. In general terms, it is announced that the war is to 
cease ; a general amnesty, so far as the Executive of the United 
States can command, on condition of the disbandment of the 
Confederate armies, the distribution of arms, and the resump- 
tion of peaceful pursuits by officers and men hitherto compos- 
ing said armies. 

" Not being fully empowered by our respective principals to 
fulfil these terms, we individually and officially pledge oui'selves 



398 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

to promptly obtain authority, and will endeavor to carry out 
the above programme.'^ 

Immediately General Sherman made his arrangements to 
send the agreement to Washington with all possible haste, and 
wrote the following private letter of advice and explanation, 
directed to both General Grant and General Halleck : — 

" I inclose herewith a copy of an agreement made this day 
between General Joseph E. Johnston and myself, which, if 
approved by the United States, will produce peace from the 
Potomac to the Rio Grande. Mr. Breckinridge was present 
at our conference, in his capacity as major-general, and satis- 
fied me of the ability of General Johnston to carry out to the 
full extent the terms of the agreement ; and if you will get the 
President to simply indorse the copy, and commission me to 
carry out the terms, I will follow them to the conclusion. 

" You will observe that it is an absolute submission of the 
enemy to the lawful authority of the United States, and dis- 
perses his armies absolutely ; and the point to which I attach 
most importance is, that the dispersion and disbandment of 
these armies is done in such a manner as to prevent their 
breaking up into guerrilla bands, 

" On the other hand, we can retain just as much of our army 
as we please. I agreed to the mode and manner of the sur- 
render of arms set forth, as it gives the States the means of 
repressing guerrillas, which we could not expect them to do if 
we stripped them of all arms. 

" Both Generals Johnston and Breckinridge admitted that 
slavery was dead, and I could not insist on embracing it in 
such a paper, because it can be made with the States in detail. 
I know that all the men of substance South sincerely want 
peace, and I do not beheve they will resort to war again 
during this century. I have no doubt but that they will in the 
future be perfectly subordinate to the laws of the United States. 

" The moment my action in this matter is approved, I can 
spare five corps, and will ask for orders to leave General Scho- 



DAWN. 399 

field here •vntli the Tenth Corps, and to march myself with the 
Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, and Twenty- 
third corps via BurkesviUe and Gordonsville to Frederick or 
Hagerstown, there to be paid and mustered out. 

" The question of finance is now the chief one, and every 
soldier and officer not needed should be got home at work. 
I would Hke to be able to begin the march north by May 1st. 
I urge on the part of the President speedy action, as it is im- 
portant to get the Confederate armies to their homes as well 
as our own." 

On the same day General Sherman wrote the following pri- 
vate note to General Halleck in regard to the assassination of 
Mr. LincoLn, and the man Clark, supposed to have been de- 
tailed to murder himself : — 

"General — I received your dispatch describing the man 
Clark detailed to assassinate me. He had better be in a hurry, 
or he wiU be too late. 

" The news of Mr. Lincoln's death produced a most intense 
effect on our troops. At first I feared it would lead to ex- 
cesses, but now it has softened down, and can easily be 
guided. 

" None evinced more feeling than General Johnston, who 
admitted that the act was calculated to stain his cause with a 
dark hue. And he contended that the loss was most serious 
to the people of the South, who had begun to reahze that Mr. 
Lincoln was the best friend the South had. 

" I cannot believe that even Mr. Davis was privy to the 
diabolical plot ; but think it the emanation of a set of young 
men at the South, who are very devils. I want to throw upon 
the South the care of this class of men, who will soon be as 
obnoxious to their industrial classes as to us. 

" Had I pushed Johnston's army to an extremity, these 
would have dispersed, and would have done infinite mischief." 

AH things being now ready, Major Hitchcock, a staff-officer, 



400 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

was sent forward with directions to keep liis own counsel ; to 
proceed as fast as possible direct to Washington, and dehver 
his charge to the new President, await his pleasure, and re- 
turn with his answer. The messenger arrived at Washington 
at a moment ill suited to the favorable consideration of hberal 
terms of peace. Mr. Lincoln had been cruelly murdered by 
a dastardly wretch in the supposed employ of the rebel gov- 
ernment ; another conspirator had stealthily entered the 
domicil of Mr. Seward^ who was then ill and helpless in his 
bed, and, after hewing his way over the prostrate forms of the 
attendants of the sick-chamber and of the members of the 
family present, to the bedside of the helpless minister, pounced 
upon him with all the ferocity of a fiend with a purpose to 
destroy his life. It had been discovered that the conspiracy 
not only compassed the life of Mr. Lincoln and Mr, Seward, 
but that of other high officials of the Government, and in the 
army as well. Such indignation was never felt in this country 
before ; and the sorrow experienced by reason of the death of 
the great and good Mr. Lincoln, as all were wont now to call 
him, was spontaneous, deep, and universal. Every head was 
bowed down, every heart was sad, and every mind was occu- 
pied with thoughts of the awful crime. 

It w^as under such circumstances that the newly inaugurated 
President and the panic-stricken members of the old cabinet 
met to break the package sent by General Sherman, and to 
deliberate on terms of peace ! 

The document was read, but a funeral sermon would have 
sounded better. Every paragraph, every line, and every word 
of the unfortunate document, when read by the light of sur- 
rounding circumstances, and listened to by men in such fi-ame 
of mind, appeared lilie an amnesty for unpardonable sins, and 
a pardon in advance for the assassins. Nay more, the hberal 
spirit of the soldier which pervaded the entire document, so 
discordant with the sentiment of the hour, was suggestive of 
comphcity with treason itself. Under the cii'cumstances, any 
terms short of utter annihilation of all rebels and rebel sym- 



DAWN. 



401 



pathizers, were not to be considered for a moment. Peace 
itself was treason, and only vengeance loyalty. 

It was the desire of the secretary of war, Mr. Stanton, to 
relieve General Sherman from command at once, but Gen- 
eral Grant, who was present at the cabinet meeting, himself 
volunteered to take the answer of the President to General 
S»herman ; and to him was accordingly confided full control 
and discretion in the matter. 

General Grant proceeded at once to North Carolina, and on 
the evening of the 23d arrived at Morehead City, whence he 
sent word to General Sherman that the truce with Johnston 
had been disapproved, and notified him of the contents of the 
following letter of instructions from the secretary of war : — 

" War Department, 

" Washington City, April 21, 1865. 

" General — The memorandum or basis agreed upon between 
General Sherman and General Johnston having been submit- 
ted to the President, they are disapproved. You wiU give no- 
tice of the disapproval to General Sherman, and direct him to 
resume hostilities at the earhest moment, 

" The instructions given to you by the late President, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, on the 3d of March, by my telegram of that date 
addressed to you, express substantially the views of President 
Andrew Johnson, and will be observed by General Sherman. 
A copy is herewith appended. 

" The President desires that you proceed immediately to 
the headquarters of General Sherman, and direct operations 
against the enemy, 

" Yours truly, 

" Edwin M, Stanton, 

" Secretary of "War. 

"To LlEUTENANT-GENEIlAli GRANT." 

This dispatch was received on the morning of the 24th. 
General Sherman instantly gave notice to General Johnston 
as follows : — 



402 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" You will take notice that the truce or suspension of hos- 
tilities agreed to between us on the 18th instant will close in 
fortj-eight hours after this is received at your lines." 

At the same time he wrote : — 

" I have replies from Washington to mj communications of 
the 18th. I am instructed to limit my operations to your im- 
mediate command, and not attempt civil negotiations. I 
therefore demand the surrender of your army on the same 
terms as were given to General Lee at Appomattox, Va., on 
the 9th April, instant, purely and simply." 

Within an hour after the reception of General Grant's dis- 
patch, a courier was riding with all haste towards Durham's 
Btation with this notice and demand for General Johnston. 
Immediately on the return of the messenger. General Sherman 
issued orders to his troops terminating the truce on the 26th, 
at twelve o'clock m., and ordered all to be in readiness to 
march at that time, on routes previously prescribed in the 
special field-orders of April 14th, from positions held April 
18th. These dispositions were already made when General 
Grant arrived at Raleigh. He then informed General Sher- 
man that he had orders from the President to direct all mili- 
tary movements, and General Sherman explained to him the 
exact position of the troops. General Grant was so well satis- 
fied with the situation, that he concluded not to interfere with 
the arrangements already made, and to leave theii" execution 
in the hands of General Sherman. 

As for General Johnston, he was powerless ; he could nei- 
ther fight nor retreat. He must either disperse his army or 
surrender it on the terms proposed. On the 25th he invited 
General Sherman to another conference, with a view to sur- 
render. It was now the province of General Grant to take 
the lead in the negotiations, but he preferred that the entire 
business should be consummated by General Sherman. Nev- 
ertheless, he recommended and even urged General Sherman 



DAWN. 403 

to ajfford General Johnston another interview, which was finally 
appointed to take place at the hour designated for the termi- 
nation of the truce. 

At this conference final terms were soon concluded, and the 
second grand army of the Confederacy was surrendered to the 
power of the United States upon the following terms : — 

" Terms of a military convention entered into this twenty-sixth (26th) day of 
April, 1865, at Bennett's house, near Durham's Station, North Carolina, be- 
tween General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, 
and Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding the United States Army in 
North Carolina. 

" All acts of war on the part of the troops under General 
Johnston's command to cease from this date. All arms and 
pubHc property to be deposited at Greensboro', and dehvered 
to an ordnance officer of the United States Army. EoUs of 
all officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be 
retained by the commander of the troops, and the other to be 
given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman. 
Each officer and man to give his individual obligation in wri- 
ting not to take up arms against the Government of the United 
States until properly released from this obligation. The side- 
arms of officers, and their private horses and baggage, to be 
retained by them. 

*' This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted 
to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United 
States authorities so long as they observe their obhgationa 
and the laws in force where they may reside. 

" W. T. Sherman, Major-General, 

" Commanding the Army of the United States in 
North Carolina. 

"J. E. Johnston, General, 

"Commanding Confederate States Army 
in North Carolina. 

"Approved: U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General. 

" Raleigh, N. C, April g6, 1865." 



404 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

General Slierman says, in his report : — 

" And although undue importance has been given to the so- 
called negotiations which preceded it, and a rebuke and pubhc 
disfavor cast on me wholly unwarranted by the facts, I rejoice 
in saying it was accomplished without further ruin and de- 
vastation to the country ; without the loss of a single life of 
those gallant men who had followed me fi'om the Mississippi 
to the Atlantic ; and without subjecting brave men to the un- 
gracious task of pursuing a fleeing foe that did not wish to 
fight. And I challenge the instance, during the last four years, 
when an armed and defiant foe stood before me, that I did not 
go in for a fight ; and I would blush for shame if I had ever 
struck or insulted a fallen foe." 

It will now become necessary to recur to events transpiring 
at Washington and Richmond during the absence of the lieu- 
tenant-general. 



COERESPONDENCE DURING THE TRUCE. 4Q5 



CHAPTER XXXn. 

COEEESPONDENCE DUEING THE TEUCE. 

In order to a more perfect understanding of the intentions 
of the framers of the original memorandum of agreement, in 
proposing and consenting to the terms of the armistice, it is 
now necessary to refer to the correspondence that took place 
during the period that intervened between the signature of the 
agreement by General Sherman and General Johnston on the 
18th of April, 1865, and the night of the 23d of the same month, 
when General Sherman received the first notification that the 
Government had refused to ratify his action. 

Immediately on signing the truce, Sherman dispatched the 
following order, by a flag of truce, through the lines of the 
Confederate army to General Stoneman, commanding the 
cavalry in Johnston's rear : — 

" Geneeal — General Johnston and I have agreed to maintain 
a truce in the nature of statu quo, by which each agrees to 
stand fast till certain propositions looking to a general peace 
are referred to our respective principals. You may, therefore, 
cease hostilities, but suppHes may come to me near Ealeigh. 

" Keep your command well in hand, and ajjproach Durham's 
Station or Chapel Hill, and I will supply you by our raih'oad. 
As soon as you reach the outer pickets report to me in person 
or by telegraph." 

This was indorsed by General Johnston for the guidance ol 
his troops, as follows : — 



406 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" The above order is given by agreement between Major- 
General Sherman and myself. The march of Major-General 
Stoneman's command under it is not to be interfered with by 
Confederate troops. 

" J. E. Johnston, 

" General." 

At the same time the following communication was dis- 
patched, through the same channels, addressed to the com- 
manding general of the armies of the United States in 
Virginia : — 

" General — I have agreed with General Joseph E. Johnston 
for a temporary cessation of active hostilities, to enable me to 
lay before our Government at Washington the agreement made 
between us, with the full sanction of Mr. Davis, and in the 
presence of Mr. Breckinridge, for the disbandment of all the 
armies of the Confederacy from here to the Rio Grande. 

" If any of your forces are moving towards Johnston, I beg 
you to check them where they are, or at the extremity of any 
raili-oad where they may be supplied, until you receive orders 
from General Grant, or until I notify you that the agreement 
is at an end and hostihties resumed." 

On the 19th, orders were sent to General Gillmore to cease 
active operations in South Carolina. 

" You may now recall General Hatch to the Santee," Sher- 
man wrote to General Gillmore. " Keep pickets about 
BranchviUe and the Santee Bridge, and await the further de- 
velopments. I have no doubt that a general surrender of all 
the Confederate armies is arranged, and only awaits a con- 
firmation from Washington. AU is weU with us and every- 
where," 

Thus far, however, no measures had been taken to check the 
devastation caused by the bold Wilson's unembarrassed raid 
through Georgia and Alabama. General Johnston, therefore, 
wrote to General Sherman as foUows : — 



CORRESPONDENCE DURING THE TRUCE. ^07 

" Greensboro', April 19, 1805. 
" Gekeeal — As your troops are moving from tlie coast to- 
wards the interior of South Carohna, and from Columbus 
towards Macon, Georgia, I respectfully suggest that you send 
copies of your orders announcing the suspension of hostilities 
for transmittal to them, supposing the interior route to be the 
shortest. 

" Most respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" J. E. Johnston, 

" General C. S. A." 

To this General Sherman repKed on the 20th : — 

" Genekal — At your request I send you, by Major Saunders, 
several written and printed copies of an order I have made to 
this army, which announces the cessation of hostihties, etc. I 
dispatched a steamer from Morehead City yesterday, for 
Charleston, with orders to General Gillmore to cease all acts 
of destruction, public or private, and to draw Generals Hatch 
and Potter back of the frontier. Also, by liaK-past eleven a. m. 
yesterday. Major Hitchcock was on a fleet steamer at More- 
head City, carrying a request to General Meade to check the 
movement of his army on Danville and Weldon ; so that I 
hope your people will be spared in the Carolina^. But I am 
apprehensive of Wilson, who is impetuous and rapid. If you 
will send by telegraph and courier a single word, he will stop, 
and then the inclosed order will place his command at a 
point convenient to our suppHes. 

" I send you a late paper, showing that in Virginia the State 
authorities are acknowledged and invited to resume their law- 
ful functions." 

On the 20th, while this dispatch was on the way, Wilson ap- 
peared before Macon and demanded the surrender of the city. 
Being informed by the commanding officer of the existence of 
the armistice, he sent the following dispatch, under flag of 
truce, to be telegraphed to Sherman : — 



408 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" To Majoe-Genekal W. T. Sheeman, 

Through headquarters of Geneeal Beaueegaed : 

" My advance received the surrender of this city with its 
garrison this evening. General Cobb had previously sent me, 
under a flag of truce, a copy of the telegram from General 
Beauregard, declaring the existence of an armistice between 
all the troops under your command and those of General 
Johnston. Without questioning the authority of this dispatch, 
or its application to my command, I could not communicate 
orders in time to prevent the capture. I shall therefore hold 
the garrison, including Major-Generals Cobb and G. W. Smith 
and Brigadier-General McCall, prisoners of war. 

" Please send me orders. I shall remain here a reasonable 
length of time to hear from you. 

" J. H. Wilson, 
" Brevet Major-General U. S. A." 

This dispatch was transmitted by telegraph by General 
Beauregard to General Johnston, and by the latter forwarded 
through General Wade Hampton, by flag of truce, to its des- 
tination, accompanied by the following letter from General 
Johnston : — 

"Headquarters Army of the Tennessee, 
April 21, 1865—9.30 A. M. 

" Majoe-Geneeal W. T. Sheeman, 

Care Lieutenant-Geneeal Haivipton, via Eillsboro' : 

*' I transmit a dispatch, just received by telegi'aph from 
Major-General Wilson, United States Army. Should you de- 
sire to give the orders asked for in the same manner, I beg 
you to send them to me through Lieutenant-General Hamp- 
ton's office. 

" I hope that, for the sake of expedition, you are willing to 
take this course. I also send, for your information, a copy of 
a dispatch received from Major-General Cobb. 

"J. E. Johnston." 
With this letter General Johnston also transmitted a copy 



CORRESPONDENCE DURING THE TRUCE. 4C9 

of the following telegram from Major-General Howell Cobb, 
commanding the Confederate troops at Macon : — 

" To General G. T. Beauregaed : 

" On receipt of ydnr dispatch at eleven o'clock to-day, I 
sent a flag of truce to General Wilson, with copy of the same, 
and informing him that I had issued orders to carry out armis- 
tice, desisting from military operations. The flag met the 
advance fourteen miles from the city. Before hearing from it 
the advance moved on the city, and having moved my picket, 
were in the city before I was aware of their approach. 

" An unconditional surrender was demanded, to which I was 
forced to submit, under protest. General Wilson has since 
arrived, and holds the city and garrison as captured, notwith- 
standing my protest. He informs me he will remain in his 
present position a reasonable length of time to hear from his 
dispatch to General Sherman, sent to your care. 

"Howell Cobb, 

" Major-General." 

Sherman immediately issued the following orders to General 
Wilson, and caused them to be transmitted through the same 
channels by which he had received the report of that officer : — 

" Headquaeteks Militaky Division op the Mississippi, 
In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, April 21, 1865. 

"Gekeeal James H. Wilson, 

Commanding Cavalry Division Blississippi, Macon, Ga. : 
" General — A suspension of hostilities was agreed on be- 
tween General Johnston and myself, on Tuesday, April 18, at 
twelve noon. I want that agreement religiously observed, and 
you may release the generals captured at Macon. Occupy 
gi-ound convenient, and contract for suppHes for your com- 
mand, and forbear any act of hostility until you hear or have 
reason to believe hostihties are resumed. In the mean time, 
it is also agi-eed the position of the enemy must not be altered 
to our prejudice. 



410 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" You know by this time that General Lee has surrendered 
to General Grant the rebel Army of Northern Yirginia, and 
that I only await the sanction of the President to conclude 
terms of peace coextensive with the boundaries of the United 
States. You will shape your conduct on this knowledge, un- 
less you have overwhelming proof to the contrary." 

At the same time Sherman wrote to General Johns- 
ton : — 

" General — I send you a letter for General "Wilson, which, 
if sent by telegraph and courier, will check his career. He 
may distrust the telegraph, therefore better send the original, 
for he cannot mistake my handwiiting, with which he is fa- 
miliar. He seems to have his blood up, and will be hard to 
hold. If he can buy corn, fodder, and rations down about 
Fort Valley, it will obviate the necessity of his going up to 
Rome or Dalton. 

" It is reported to me from Cairo that Mobile is in our pos- 
session, but it is not minute or official. 

" General Baker sent in to me, wanting to surrender his 
command, on the theory that the whole Confederate army was 
surrendered. I explained to him, or his staff-officer, the exact 
truth, and left him to act as he thought proper. He seems to 
have disbanded his men, deposited a few arms about twenty 
mUes from here, and himself awaits your action. I will not 
hold him, his men, or arms subject to any condition other than 
the final one we may agree on. 

" I shall look for Major Hitchcock back from "Washington 
on Wednesday, and shall promptly notify you of the result. 
By the action of General Weitzel in relation to the Virginia 
Legislature, I feel certain we will have no trouble on the score 
of recognizing existing State governments. It may be the 
lawyers wiU want us to define more minutely what is meant 
by the guarantee of rights of person and property. It may 
be construed into a compact for us to undo the past as to the 
rights of slaves and 'leases of plantations' on the Mississippi, 



CORRESPONDENCE DURING THE TRUCE. 4^1 

of 'vacant and abandoned' plantations. I wish you would 
talk to the best men you have on these points ; and, if pos- 
sible, let us in our final convention make these points so clear 
as to leave no room for angry controversy. 

" I believe if the South would simply and pubHcly declare 
what we all feel, that slavery is dead, that you would inaugu- 
rate an era of peace and prosperity that would soon efface the 
ravages of the past four years of war. Negroes would remain 
in the South, and afford you abundance of cheap labor, which 
otherwise will be driven away ; and it wiU save the country 
the senseless discussions which have kept us all in hot water 
for fifty years. 

" Although, strictly speaking, this is no subject for a mih- 
tary convention, yet I am honestly convinced that our simple 
declaration of a result will be accepted as good law every- 
where. Of course, I have not a single word from Washington 
on this or any other point of our agreement, but I know the 
effect of such a step by us wiU be universally accepted." 

Johnston immediately replied, suggesting a modification of 
Sherman's orders to Wilson : — 

" Headqtjahtees Aemy of the Tennessee, 
" April 23, 18C5— 3.30 p. m. 

" Major-Genekal W. T. Sheeman, 

Commanding U. S. Forces, Baleigli, N. C. : 

" Your telegram to brevet Major-General Wilson is just re- 
ceived. I respectfully suggest that the sentence, ' In the 
mean time it is also agreed that the position of the enemy's 
forces must not be altered to our prejudice,' be so modified as 
to read, ' In the mean time it is also agreed that the position 
of the forces of neither belligerent shall be altered to the pre- 
judice of the other ;' and on this principle you direct Major- 
General Wilson to withdraw from Macon and release its 

garrison. 

" J. E. Johnston, 

General." 



412 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

To this General Sherman felt impelled to decline acceding, 
and accordingly answered on the 23d : — 

" General — Your communication of twenty minutes past two 
p. M. of yesterday is received. My line of communication with 
General Wilson is not secure enough for me to confuse him by a 
change in mere words. Of course the status quo is mutual, but 
I leave him to apply it to his case according to his surroundings. 
I would not instruct him to undo all done by him between the 
actual date of our agreement and the time the knowledge of it 
reached him. I beg, therefore, to leave him free to apply the 
rule to his own case. Indeed, I have almost exceeded the 
bounds of prudence in checking him without the means of di- 
rect communication, and only did so on my absolute faith in 
your personal character. . 

" I inclose a dispatch for General Wilson, in cipher, which, 
translated, simply advises him to keep his command well to- 
gether, and to act according to the best of his abihty, doing 
as httle harm to the country as possible, until he knows hos- 
tilities are resumed." 

Meanwhile, General Sherman had received, through Gen- 
eral Johnston, a dispatch written in the cipher of the War 
Department, and on causing it to be translated, read as 
follows : — 

" Headquaetees Cavalry Corps, Military Dmsiox 
OF THE Mississippi, Macon, Ga., April 21, 1865. 

" Major-Geneeal W. T. Sherman, 

Through General Johnston : 
" Your dispatch of yesterday is received. I shall at once 
proceed to carry out your instructions. If proper arrange- 
ments can be made to have sugar,. coffee, and clothing sent 
from Savannah to Augusta, they can be brought thither by 
the way of Atlanta by railroad, or they can be sent by boat 
directly to this place from Darien. I shall be able to get for- 
age, bread, and meat from Southeastern Georgia. The rail- 



CORRESPONDENCE DURING THE TRUCE. 413 

road from Atlanta to Dalton or Cleveland cannot be repaired 
in three months. I have arranged to send an officer at once, 
via Eufala, to General Canby, with a copy of your dispatch. 
General Cobb will also notify General Taylor of the armistice. 
I have about three thousand prisoners of war, including Gen- 
erals Cobb, Smith, McCall, Mercer, and Robertson. Can you 
arrange with General Johnston for their immediate release ? 
Please answer at once. I shall start a staff-officer to you to- 
morrow. 

"J. H. Wilson, 
" Brevet Major-General commanding." 

He immediately rephed as follows, on the 23d : — 

" Cipher dispatch received. There is a general suspension 
of hostilities, awaiting the assent of our new President to cer- 
tain civil points before making a final mihtary convention of 
peace. Act according to your own good sense until you are 
certain the war is over. Keep possession of some key-j^oint 
that will secure your present advantages, rest your men and 
horses, and in a few days you will receive either positive in- 
formation of peace, or may infer the contrary. My messenger 
should be back from Washington to-morrow." 

On the 22d, Sherman reported his action as follows to Lieu- 
tenant-General Grant, sending the dispatch by telegraph to 
Morehead City to be forwarded by a fleet steamer to Fort 
Monroe, and thence telegraphed to Washington : — 

" General Wilson held Macon on the 20th, with Howell Cobb, 
G. W. Smith, and others as prisoners ; but they claimed the 
benefit of my armistice, and he has telegi\aphed to me through 
the rebel Unes for orders. I have answered him that he may 
draw out of Macon, and hold his command for further orders, 
unless he has reason to beheve that the rebels are changing 
the status to our prejudice. A brigade of rebels offered to sur- 
render to me yesterday ; but I prefer to make one grand finale, 



414 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

■whicli I believe to be perfectly practicable. There will be no 
trouble in adjusting matters in Nortli Carolina, Georgia, and 
Alabama, and I think South Carohna ought to be satisfied, 
with Charleston and Columbia in ruins. All we await is an 
answer from you and the President. Weather fine ; roads 
good. Troops ready for fight or home." 

On the 23d, he wrote to Generals Jolinston and Hardee : — 

" I send a bundle of papers for you jointly. These are the 
latest. Telegraph dispatches are here to 19th. Young Fred. 
Seward is ahve, having been subjected to the trepan, and may 
possibly recover. 

"There appears no doubt the murder of Mr. Lincoln was 
done by Booth, and the attempt on Mr. Seward by Surratt, 
who is in custody. All will sooner or later be caught. The 
feeling North on this subject is more intense than any thing 
that ever occurred before. General Ord, at Richmond, has 
recalled the permission given for the Virginia Legislature, 
and I fear much the assassination of the President will give a 
bias to the popular mind which, in connection with the desire 
of our politicians, may thwart our purpose of recognizing 
' existing local governments.' But it does seem to me there 
must be good sense enough left on this continent to give order 
and shape to the now disjointed elements of government. I 
believe this assassination of Mr. Lincoln will do the cause of 
the South more harm than any event of the war, both at home 
and abroad, and I doubt if the Confederate military authori- 
ties had any more complicity with it than I had. I am thus 
frank with you, and have asserted as much to the War De- 
partment. But I dare not say as much for Mr, Davis or some 
of the civil functionaries, for it seems the plot was fixed for 
March 4th, but delayed, awaiting some instructions from 
* Richmond' You will find in the newspapers I send you, all 
the information I have on this point. 

"Major Hitchcock should be back to-morrow, and if any 
delay occurs it will result from the changed feehng about 



CORRESPONDENCE DURING THF TRUCE. 415 

Washington, arising from this new and unforeseen complica- 
tion." 

On the night of the 23d, Major Hitchcock returned from 
"Washington with the dispatches which we read in the pre- 
ceding chapter, and Lieutenant-General Grant arrived in per- 
son to direct operations. 

On the 25th General Sherman wrote to Admiral Dahlsren : — 

" I expect Johnston will surrender his army to-morrow. 
We have had much negotiation, and things are setthng down 
to the terms of General Lee's army. 

" Jeff. Davis and cabinet, with considerable specie, are mak- 
ing their way toAvards Cuba. He passed Charlotte going 
south on the 23d, and I think he will try to reach Florida 
coast, either Cedar Keys or lower down. Catch him if you 
can. Can't you watch the east coast and send word round to 
the west coast ? 

" Copy for General Gillmore, who has the cipher." 

And on May 2d he wrote to General Thomas : — 

" Captain Hasea is here en route for Nashville, from General 
Nelson, now at Macon. He got possession of that place just 
as he learned of the suspension of hostilities that preceded the 
final surrender of Johnston's army at Greensboro'. I have sent 
word to General Nelson to parole his prisoners there on the 
same terms as prescribed to Johnston and Lee, and to return 
to the neighborhood of Decatur, Alabama, and then report to 
you or me. I came to Savannah from Kaleigh to send stores 
up to Augusta by boat for Nelson, and to take steps to occupy 
Augusta. 

" I will have much to tell you, at some future time, of the 
details of my negotiations with Johnston, which have been 
misconstrued by the people at the North ; but I can afford to 
let them settle doM-n before telling all the truth. At my first 
interview with Johnston he admitted the Confederate cause 



416 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

was lost, and that it -would be murder for him to allow any 
more conflicts ; but he asked me to help him all I could to 
prevent his army and people brealdng up into guerrilla bands. 
I deemed that so desirable, that I did make terms, subject 
to the approval of the President, which may be deemed too 
liberal. But the more I reflect, the more satisfied I am that 
by dealing with the people of the South magnanimously we 
wiU restore four-fifths of them at once to the condition of good 
citizens, leaving us only to deal with the remainder. But my 
terms were not approved, and Johnston's present surrender 
only apphes to the troops in his present command, yiz., east 
of Chattahoochee. 

" The boat is in motion, and I write with great difiiculty, 
and will wait a more convenient season to give you fuller de- 
tails." 



THE REJECTED AGREEMENT. 45^7 



CHAPTER XXXin. 

THE REJECTED AGREEMENT. 

On the 22d day of April tlie secretary of war, Mr. Stanton, 
caused to be prepared and published in the daily newspapers 
of the city of New Tork the following bulletin : — 

" Major-General Dix, Neio York : 

" Yesterday evening a bearer of dispatches arrived here from 
General Sherman. An agreement for a suspension of hostili- 
ties, and a memorandum of what is called ' a basis of peace,' 
had been entered into on the 18th instant, by General Sher- 
man with the rebel General Johnston, the rebel General Breck- 
inridge being present at the conference. 

" A cabinet meeting was held at eight o'clock in the even- 
ing, at which the action of General Sherman was disapproved 
by the President, by the secretary of war, by General Grant, 
and by every member of the cabinet. General Sherman was 
ordered to resume hostilities immediately, and he was directed 
that the instructions given by the late President, in the follow- 
ing telegram, which was penned by Mr. Lincoln himself, at the 
Capitol, on the night of the 3d of March, were approved by 
President Andrew Johnson, and were reiterated to govern the 
action of military commanders. 

" On the night of the 3d of March, while President Lincohi 
and his cabinet were at the Capitol, a telegram from General 
Grant was brought to the secretary of war, informing him 
that General Lee had asked for a conference to make arrange- 
ments for terms of peace. The letter of General Lee was pub- 
lished in a message of Davis to the rebel Congress. General 

27 



418 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Grant's telegram was submitted to Mr. Lincoln, wlio, after 
pondering a few minutes, took up his pen, and wrote with his 
own hand the following reply, which he submitted to the secre- 
tary of state and the secretary of war. It was then dated, ad- 
dressed, and signed by the secretary of war, and telegraphed 
to General Grant. 

" ' "Washington, March 3, 18G5— 12.80 p. m. 

" ' Lieutenant-General Grant : 

" ' The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no con- 
ference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of General Lee's 
army, or some minor and purely military matters. He instructs me to say you 
are not to decide or confer upon any political questions. Such questions the 
President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military confer- 
ence or conditions. Meantime you are to press to the utmost your military 
advantages. 

"'Edwin M. Stanton, 

" ' Secretary of War.' 

" The orders of General Sherman to General Stoneman to 
withdraw from Salisbury and join him, will probably open the 
way for Davis to escape to Mexico, or Europe, with his plun- 
der, which is reported to be very large, including not only the 
plunder of the Richmond banks, but previous accumulations. 
A dispatch received by this department fi'om Richmond says : 

" ' It is stated here by respectable parties, that the amount 
of specie taken south by Jefferson Davis and his partisans is 
very large, including not only the plunder of the Richmond 
banks, but previous accumulations. They hope, it is said, to 
make terms with Sherman, or some other Southern com- 
mander, by which they wiU be permitted, with their effects, 
including the gold plunder, to go to Mexico or Europe. John- 
ston's negotiations look to this end.' 

" After the cabinet meeting last night. General Grant started 
for North Carolina, to direct future operations against John- 
ston's army. 

"Edwin M. Stanton, 

*' Secretary of War.' 

To this dispatch was appended in the newspapers the fol- 
lowing remarks : — 



THE REJECTED AGREEMENT. 4^9 



"It is reported that tliis proceeding of General Sherman 
was disapj)roTed for the following, among other reasons : — 

" First. — It was an exercise of authority not vested in Gen- 
eral Sherman, and on its face shows that both he and John- 
ston knew that General Sherman had no authority to enter 
into any such arrangement, 

" Second. — It was an acknowledgment of the rebel govern- 
ment. 

" Third. — It is understood to re-estabhsh rebel State gov- 
ernments that had been overthrown at the sacrifice of many 
thousands of loyal Kves and immense treasure, and placed 
arms and munitions of war in the hands of rebels, at their 
respective capitals, which might be used as soon as the armies 
of the United States were disbanded, and used to conquer and 
subdue loyal States. 

" Fourth. — By the restoration of the rebel authority in their 
respective States, they would be enabled to re-estabhsh sla- 
very. 

" Fifth. — It might furnish a ground of responsibihty, by the 
Federal Government, to pay the rebel debt, and certainly sub- 
jects loyal citizens of the rebel States to debts contracted by 
rebels in the name of the States. 

"Sixth. — It put in dispute the existence of loyal State 
governments, and the new State of Western Yhginia, which 
had been recognized by every department of the United States 
Government. 

" Seventh. — It practically abohshed the confiscation laws, 
and relieved rebels of every degree who had slaughtered our 
people from aU pains and penalties for then- crimes. 

" Eighth. — It gave terms that had been deliberately, repeat- 
edly, and solemnly rejected by President Lincoln, and better 
terms than the rebels had ever asked in their most prosperous 
condition. 

" Ninth.— It formed no basis of true and lasting peace, but 
reheved the rebels fi'om the pressure of our victories, and left 
them in condition to renew their effort to overtlu'ow the United 
States Government, and subdue the loyal States, whenever 



V 



420 SHEERIAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

their strength was recruited, and any opportunity should 
offer." 

The agreement between General Sherman and General 
Johnston was in perfect accord with President Lincoln's pol- 
icy at that time, so far as it was known to his generals or the 
pubhc. The telegram dated 3d of March, and sent by Mr. 
Stanton to General Grant, was a special instruction intended 
to govern the conduct of General Grant alone at that particu- 
lar time and in that particular case. It was not communicated 
to General Sherman for his guidance, and was wholly unknown 
to him. Whatever may have been the reasons for that in- 
struction, it was entirely ignored a month afterwards by Mr. 
Lincoln himseK. After Lee's surrender, Mr. Lincoln concluded 
to recognize the existing Legislature of Virginia, and author- 
ized the then military commandant at Richmond to permit it 
to assemble. On the 6th day of April, while at City Point, he 
made this memorandum and handed it to Senator Wilkinson, 
who dehvered it to General Weitzel on the 7th : — 

" INIajor-GeneraIj Weitzel, Richmond, Virginia : 

" It has been intimated to me that the gentlemen who have 
acted as the Legislature of Virginia, in support of the rebel- 
lion, may now desire to assemble at Richmond and take meas- 
ures to withdraw the Virginia troops and other support from 
resistance to the General Government. If they attempt it, 
give them permission and protection, until, if at aU, they at- 
tempt some action hostile to the United States, in which case 
you will notify them, give them reasonable time to leave, and 
at the end of which time arrest any who remain. Allow Judge 
Campbell to see this, but do not make it public. 

" Yours, etc., 

" A. Lincoln." 

General Weitzel, so authorized, approved a caU for the 
meeting of the Legislature at Richmond on the 11th. The 
call was in these words : — 



THE EEJECTED AGEEEMENT. 421 

" Tlie undersigned, members of tlie Legislature of the State 
of Yii'ginia, in connection with a number of citizens of the 
State, whose names are attached to this paper, in view of the 
evacuation of the city of Kichmond by the Confederate gov- 
ernment and its occupation by the mihtary authorities of the 
United States, the surrender of the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, and the suspension of the jurisdiction of the civil power 
of the State, are of the opinion that an immediate meeting of 
the General Assembly of the State is called for by the exigen- 
cies of the situation. The consent of the military authorities 
of the United States to a session of the Legislatm'e in Eich- 
mond, in connection with the governor and lieutenant-governor, 
to their free dehberation upon the pubhc affau'S, and to the 
ingress and departure of all its members under safe conduct, 
has been obtained. 

" The United States authorities will afford transportation 
from any point under their control to any of the persons before 
mentioned. 

" The matters to be submitted to the Legislature are the 
restoration of peace to the State of Virginia, and the adjust- 
ment of the questions, invoMng Hfe, liberty, and j)ropertj, 
that have arisen in the State as a consequence of war. 

" We, therefore, earnestly request the governor, heutenant- 
governor, and members of the Legislature to repair to this 
city by the 25th of April, instant. 

" We understand that full protection to persons and prop- 
erty will be afforded in the State, and we recommend to 
peaceful citizens to remain at their homes and pursue their 
usual avocations with confidence that they will not be inter- 
rupted. 

" We earnestly soHcit the attendance in Kichmond, on or 
before the 25th of April, instant, of the following persons, 
citizens of Yirginia, to confer ^\ath us as to the best means of 
restoring peace to the State of Yirginia. We have secured safe 
conduct from the militaiy authorities of the United States for 
them to enter the city and depart without molestation." 



422 SHEBMAN AJ^D HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

The foregoing was publislied in tlie Richmond papers on the 
12th, and announced in hand-bills, posted in all conspicuous 
places. On the same day the Richmond Whig contained the 
following editorial article, congratulating the country on this 
pleasing state of things : — 

" It is understood that this iavitation has been put forth in 
pursuance of the plan of proceeding assented to by President 
Lincoln. At all events, it will be hailed by the great body of 
the people of Yii-ginia as the^^rs^ step toivards the reinstatement 
of the Old Dominion in the Union. It is probable that some of 
the members of the Legislature may decline to come. In 
every such case the people of the county or senatorial district 
should select some influential and inteUigent citizen, who is 
willing to take part in this business, and commission him, as 
far as they can, to represent them at the conference. 

" The views and purposes of the members of the Legislature 
should be ascertained at once. Everj^ one can foresee diffi- 
culties in the way of formal action : in the beginning several 
complex questions are to be met at the threshold ; but " where 
there is a will there is a way," and whatever the difficulties 
presented, the important business must be undertaken. 

" In this connection we may say that the recent interview 
between the President and Judge Campbell related to the res- 
toration of peace in all the States, and not to Virginia alone, 
as might be inferred from the brief notice of the ' consultation 
of citizens' pubHshed in the Whig of Saturday. Whilst every 
one "^tU rejoice at the restoration of peace and prosperity in 
all the States, we cannot refrain from the expression of the 
hope that the pubhc men who are to take part in the reinstate- 
ment of Virginia to her ancient position in the sisterhood of 
States, will address themselves to that business "without un- 
necessary delay. Virginia was not consulted nor waited for 
when secession became the determined policy of the ' cotton 
States,' and there is no sound reason why ' co-operation' 
with them, in accepting the President's terms of peace, should 
be the rule of proceeding now. Let Vu-ginia lead the way 



THE EEJECTED AGREEMENT. 423 

back to the Uuion, and present an example of prompt action 
to. the other States of the late ' Confederacy.' " 

These pubhcations were made in Eichmond sis days before 
the agreement between Sherman and Johnston was concluded, 
and the facts were well known in both armies, were fi-eely 
commented upon, and the movement highly approved by the 
commanding officers, who generally regarded the policy thereby 
indicated as wise and of universal appHcation. This call and 
the Eichmond comments were reproduced by the leading news- 
papers of the United States, with approving comments, on the 
14th of April, the very day of the assassination, and four days 
anterior to the agreement. The New York Herald of that 
date contained a leading article vindicating the policy indi- 
cated, and claiming for Mr, Lincoln great credit for inaugu- 
rating it. Other leading journals, such as the New York Tri- 
bune, Post, and World, all concurred in the most liberal terms 
of peace. The Herald article says : — 

" The rebellion is indeed demohshed. Eead the call which 
we publish to-day from congressmen, assemblymen, editors, 
judges, lawyers, planters, etc. — a powerful body of the most 
conspicuous rebels of old Yii'ginia — inviting the rebel gov- 
ernor, lieutenant-governor, and Legislature of that State to 
meet in Eichmond, under the protection of the ' old flag,' to 
consider their present situation. Old Yirginia, the head and 
fi-ont of the rebellion, surrenders, and, broken up, disorganized 
and exhausted, all her confederates in the service of Jefferson 
Davis, under the same protection, will speedily follow her 
good example. 

" This is a shrewd and sagacious movement on the part of 
President Lincoln. He not only pardons the leadmg rebels 
of Yirginia, from the governor down, but invites him and them, 
and their late rebel Legislature, to meet in council at Eich- 
mond, to deliberate upon the ways and means for the restora- 
tion of the State to the blessings of the Uuion, under the new 
condition of things produced by this tremendous war. The 



424: SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

assemblage thus convened cannot fail to be Influenced by the 
generous spirit of President Lincoln. It will realize the fact 
that Yirginia having been, Uke a brand from the flames, res- 
cued from the Moloch of her Southern Confederacy, vengeance 
is at an end, charity prevails, and that the ' Old Dominion' 
must prepare for a new State charter, upon new ideas, and for 
the new hfe of regeneration and prosperity that hes before her. 
At the same time, while the moral influence of this great and 
wise concession in behaK of reconstruction in Virginia will 
have a powerful effect upon the leading spirits of all the other 
rebellious States, we may expect from the debates of the 
meeting thus assembled, that the administration will derive 
much valuable information, and will be greatly assisted in the 
solution of the difficult details of reconstruction in all the re- 
conquered States. 

" We are inchned to suspect that Mr. Lincoln, in this exhi- 
bition of the spirit of conciliation, did not forget a certain 
anecdote in the life of Herod the Great, of Judea, as the king 
of that country under the supreme authority of Rome. In the 
war of the Roman factions which followed the death of JuHus 
Caesar, Herod took the side of the unfortunate Brutus and 
Cassius. Marc Antony, then falling into the possession of 
Judea, called Herod to an account, and asked him what he 
had to say in his defence. Herod replied : ' Only this : if I 
have been troublesome as your enemy, may I not be useful as 
your friend?' Marc Antony took the hint, and Herod con- 
tinued useful as a servant of Rome to the day of his death. 
The same idea, we infer, influenced the President in those 
recent consultations at Richmond, to which we may trace the 
experiment of this extraordinary call for the meeting of the 
rebel Legislature of Yirginia. He wants to make those men 
useful as fiiends of the Union who have been so energetic and 
troublesome as its enemies." 

Such was the pubHshed pohcy of Mr. Lincoln, as it came 
under the notice of General Sherman, and such the arguments 
by which it was sustained. With his opportunities for correct 



THE REJECTED AGREEMENT. 425 

information, Sherman approved of both. He had the most 
satisfactory evidence of the complete overthrow of the power 
of the Confederacy and the subjugation of the spirit of the 
rebellion. For four long years he had been constantly em- 
ployed in destroying the armies of the Confederacy and wast- 
ing its power of resistance. He had just marched his grand 
army from the mountains, in Georgia, to the sea, and from the 
sea back to the mountains, in North Carohna ; he had over- 
come every foe, laid waste every field, destroyed every article 
of subsistence, every instrument of war, and every means of 
transportation, in his desolate track ; and now, with his grand 
army well in hand, he stood amid a wilderness of ruin, with 
no resolute foe willing to accept the gage of battle. He knew 
the power of the enemy was broken, and every particle of the 
spirit of war taken out of the Southern people. 

General Sherman is no petty dealer of small wares ; he fights 
an enemy with all his might, and having conquered, he for- 
gives with all his heart ; and in the spirit of Mr. Lincoln, 
whose teachings he followed, he was willing to say to General 
Johnston : " Take your army home in good order, turn over 
your arms at the State capitals, there to remain subject to the 
disposition of the Congress of the United States; let your 
men go to work to repair your desolate country, under the 
ample folds of the flag of the Union ; — go and sin no more, and 
may God bless you !" 

To denounce Sherman's truce, therefore, is to denounce the 
policy of Mr. Lincoln ; and to condemn Sherman, is to defame 
the memory of the man the nation mourns. If Sherman was 
slow in mastering radical ideas, so was Mr. Lincoln. Indeed, 
Sherman moved faster than Lincoln ; for while Lincoln was 
contemplating the effect of his emancipation proclamation, 
and comparing it to the "pope's buU against the comet," 
Sherman declared that the subject-matter of the proclamation 
was within the war-power of the President, and that nothing 
remained to make it effective but the triumph of our arms ; 
and this reduced the question to one of material power. If 
the rebellion triumphed, the nation was conquered and slavery 



426 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

survived ; if tlie nation conquered, slavery died as an incident 
of the war, by force of a lawful proclamation, issued by proper 
authority during the war. If Sherman had been a pohtician 
and not a soldier, his pohtical ideas might have developed 
and improved more rapidly : but if his political progress was 
slow, his army moved fast, and brought home peace ; and if he 
erred, it was on the side of magnanimity, and the attributes 
of Deity prescribe no penalty for such sins. 

It is important to remember that General Sherman con- 
cluded his agreement with General Johnston while filled with 
the spirit of President Lincoln's poUcy with respect to the Vir- 
ginia Legislature, and that no notice of the change of that 
poHcy or the revocation of the order to General Weitzel, of 
April 6th, reached him until the agreement had been abeady 
disapproved. 

Mr. Stanton deemed that General Sherman had transcended 
his authority. The surrender of all rebels in arms, as pro- 
posed to Johnston by him, was, however, a purely military 
question, and he treated it as a soldier ; but when the terms 
proposed by Johnston were found to embrace political subjects, 
he neither finally accepted nor decidedly rejected them, but 
promptly referred them to his superior, the President. If he 
had been invested with the requisite authority to conclude a 
treaty on purely civil matters, he would not have referred the 
stipulations to the President for his approval, but would have 
closed the matter at once. Sherman declared to Johnston he 
had no authority, and Johnston knew he had no authority, 
to make a final agreement without the approval of the Presi- 
dent, and it was so stated in the instrument itself as a reason 
for sendmg it to Washington for the consideration and action 
of the President. 

Furthermore, it was objected that it was a " practical ac- 
knowledgment of the rebel government." It has ever been an 
unpleasant thing to do, to acknowledge even the actual exist- 
ence of the rebel government ; nevertheless we had previously 
done so in many ways : by declaring the ports of the Southern 
States blockaded, by sending flags of truce to rebel com- 



THE REJECTED AGREEMENT. 



427 



manders to obtain leave to carry off our woimded and bury our 
dead, by appointing commissioners to arrange a cartel for 
the exchange of prisoners, and by fighting its armies on a 
hundred battle-fields at an expense of hundi'eds of millions of 
treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives. But the agree- 
ment did not in any way recognize the rightful existence of 
the rebel government, and never since the war began was it 
proposed to recognize its actual existence under such agree- 
able circumstances. Its condition was utterly hopeless. 
General Johnston, at the head of the only formidable mihtary 
force belonging to it, presented himself to General Sherman 
and made this proposition : " I propose to stop the war and 
surrender all the armies of the Confederacy, on condition that 
the Southern people shall be allowed to Hve hke other respect- 
able people under the free and enlightened Government of the 
United States." All he asked besides was a receipt. Sher- 
man promptly wrote out a voucher, and sent it to Washington 
for approval. It was not the acknowledgment of the exist- 
ence of the rebel government so much as a receij)t for the 
rebel government itseK, soul and body, which Johnston was 
to deliver into the hands of Sherman. And it could make 
no difference in whose name the voucher was given, since 
the rebel government was to perish the instant it was de- 
livered. 

Again : " By the restoration of the rebel authority in their 
respective States, they would be enabled to re-estabhsh 
slavery." 

This objection is well founded, and, indeed, as we shall 
presently perceive, occurred to General Sherman himself on 
further reflection. It would have constituted a vahd reason 
for requiring the amendment of the agreement by the insertion 
of a distinct declaration on this subject, if it had not been al- 
ready decided by the administration not to permit any terms 
except those necessarily involved in the surrender of the Con- 
federate armies. But the ruling conviction of General Sher- 
man's mind, that slavery had received its death-blow beyond 
the power of resurrection, caused him to lose sight of the 



428 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

necessity for a formal recognition of a fact, as lie thought, 
already patent to all. Johnston so admitted at his conference 
with Sherman, and Sherman so beheved. Sherman was of 
opinion that slavery was abohshed by act of war, and that it 
was wiped out of existence by the President's proclamation. 
As far back as the 1st of January, 1864, he wrote, for the in- 
formation of the people of Alabama : " Three years ago, by a 
httle reflection and patience, you could have had a hundred 
years of peace and prosperity, but you preferred war. Yery 
well. Last year you could have saved your slaves, but now 
it is too late : all the ijoioers of earth cannot restore your slaves 
any more than your dead grandfathers." 

On his march from Atlanta, in Georgia, to Goldsboro', in 
North Carolina, the negroes came in crowds to see him, and to 
inquire if it was true " Massa Lincoln," as they designated the 
President, had really made them free ; when General Sherman 
gave them every assurance that they had been made free, they 
and their children forever, but advised them to remain at 
home and work, and do their best to make a living for them- 
selves, until President Lincoln should send them word what 
else to do. 

It appears, however, that after the messenger left for "Wash- 
ington with the agreement. General Sherman reflected that an 
article declaring slavery abohshed should properly have been 
inserted ; when he immediately addressed a letter to General 
Johnston, with the view to framing such a clause, to be added 
when the agreement should be returned. This letter, dated on 
the 21st of April, and given in full on page 407, proceeds : — 

" The action of General Weitzel in relation to the Legisla- 
ture of Virginia, indicates that existing State governments 
will be recognized by the General Government. It may be, 
however, the lawyers will want us to define more minutely 
what is meant by the guarantee of the rights of persons and prop- 
erty. It may be construed into a compact for us to undo the 
past as to the rights of slaves, and leases of plantations on the 
Mississippi, of vacant and abandoned plantations, etc. 



THE EEJECTED AGREEINIENT. 429 

" I wish you would talk to the best men you have on these 
points, and, if possible, let us, in the final convention, make 
them so clear as to leave no room for angry controversy. I 
believe, if you would simply and pubhcly declare what we all 
feel and know, that slavery is dead, that you would inaugurate 
an era of peace and prosperity that would soon efface the 
ravages of the past four years of war. Negroes would remain 
in the South, and afford you an abundance of cheap labor, which 
otherwise will be driven away ; and it wdll save the country 
the unhappy discussions which have kept us aU in hot water 
for fifty years. Although, strictly speaking, this is no subject 
of a military convention, yet I am honestly convinced that our 
simple declaration of a result will be accepted as good law 
everywhere." 

This letter was written under the full belief that his agree- 
ment with Johnston would be approved, for nothing had oc- 
curred as yet to cast a shadow of doubt upon the matter. 
There was no question in his own mind that slavery was a 
dead institution, and there seemed to be no question on the 
subject in the minds of Johnston and Breckinridge. Johnston 
admitted it frankly, and declared Davis himself had settled 
that matter when he called upon the negro for help ; and 
Breckinridge said, at the interview on the 18th : " The dis- 
cussion of the slavery question is at an end. The constitu- 
tional amendment forever forbidding slavery is perfectly fair, 
and -udll be accepted in that spirit by the people of the South." 
Hence Sherman had no doubt the additional article would be 
conceded, and he thought it might do good. But the utter 
rejection of the agreement by the President and cabinet, put 
an end to all further efforts in that direction. If the adminis- 
tration at "Washington had accepted the stipulations as an 
initiatory proceeding, to be altered and amended to suit all 
the exigencies of the new peace, and had sent them back with 
amendments and instructions, an opportunity seemed pre- 
sented for at once establishing a peace on an enduring basis. 
It is to be regretted that Sherman's after-thought, on the 



430 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

slavery subject, had not been bis fore-tbougbt. It was fit and 
proper tbat tbe question of slavery, tbe substantial cause of 
tbe war, sbould be tben and tbere settled by an express stip- 
ulation, declared in tbe presence of tbe two armies by tbeir 
commanders. This would bave settled tbe matter forever ; an 
amendment of tbe constitution forbidding slavery would tben 
bave been unnecessary, except for tbe benefit of tbe border 
States not in rebellion, and to prevent any of tbe States from 
re'vdving tbe institution at some future day, and tbe new era 
would immediately bave been inaugurated. 

It was our misfortune during tbe war, from first to last, tbat 
we bad no leading bead tbat could rigbtly comprehend tbe 
situation, and at tbe same time grasp and organize tbe power 
and resources of tbe country, so as to put down tbe rebellion 
by a sbort, sbarp, and vigorous conflict. At first our rulers 
undertook to do it by tbree months' militia — by a mere show 
of power and by moral suasion ; but tbe people saw, in ad- 
vance of tbe Government, it required a great effort, and, under 
tbe inspiration of tbe hour, two hundred thousand volunteers 
tendered tbeir services for tbe war. A few of these were ac- 
cepted, and many rejected, and the golden moment was past. 
Afterwards, when they were called for, they could not be had. 
Tbe first two years of the war were Htei-ally frittered away. 
Then the Government offered and paid large bounties, and oId- 
tained raw recruits, and also many mercenaries who deserted, 
— all costing tbe Government more money for actual services 
rendered than would bave been neces-sary to pay tbe same 
number of men from the beginning ; and the war was prolonged. 
Then came a law for a draft, with a commutation clause at- 
tached which rendered it inoperative, so far as raising men for 
the army was concerned. Then came a bttle trick of a pohcy 
for raising negro troops in Maryland ; and tben more negro 
troops ; and tben another draft. As to tbe treatment of the 
inhabitants of conquered territory, and as to trade in cotton, 
there was no pobcy. No one knew, and none could tell 
whether tbe rebel States were to be considered in the Union 
or out of the Union. If any thing bke a poHcy for tbe army 



THE EEJECTED AGREEMENT. 431 

was ever tliouglit of, it was first urged upon the Government 
by officers in the field, or committees or individuals of the 
people at home : if by the former, it was usually rejected, and 
the authors rebuked ; if by the latter, it was ventilated first in 
newspapers, and if found sufficiently popular, it was accepted, 
to be in its turn thrown aside, hke the old ii'on of a machine- 
shop. 

The Government, in fact, felt itseK unprepared to make an 
ultimate decision on the complex question of a final peace, and 
preferred, by a temporizing poHcy, to gain time for a more ma- 
ture consideration of its perplexing problems. Grant's terms 
to Lee were liberal, but, in some respects, indefinite. Lee's 
men were to lay down their arms and go home, where they 
should be protected in their persons and property so long as 
they remained there and obeyed the laws. But whether the 
word projjerfy meant slave property, or the word Imvs meant 
the laws passed by the rebel State of Virginia, does not appear 
by the treaty, and must be left to judicial construction, or to 
the arbitrary decision of the Government. But that was a 
partial arrangement, and related to the submission of one of 
the armies of the Confederacy only ; whereas General Johnston 
offered to act on behalf of eight millions of people, whose 
military head he practically was, and proposed, nay, insisted, 
as'far as it was in his power to insist, that terms of peace 
should then and there be agreed upon and forever settled. 
Here was an opportunity for statesmanship. The armies of 
the United States had fought the armies of the Confederacy 
as long as the latter were willing to fight — they could do no 
more ; it remained now for diplomacy to do the rest, and Sher- 
man held up the opportunity. 

The administration, however, desired no compact, demanded 
simply the absolute surrender or destruction of the miHtary 
power of the rebellion, and reserved to itseK the control of the 
entire subject of reorganization in aU its parts. Both methods 
had and still have many zealous partisans. Time alone can 
decide between them. 

That Mr. Stanton and General Sherman should differ in 



432 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

opinion is not strange. Two men beholding the same object 
from difierent points of observation are apt to describe it di- 
versely ; and jet neither may see it aright : and it is to be re- 
gretted that, at such a crisis, the administration should mo- 
mentarily have lost sight of the consideration manifestly due 
to Sherman's gTeat and patriotic services, and should have 
permitted that disapproval of his action to be presented to the 
peoj)le in such a manner as naturally to arouse their indigna- 
tion and distrust against him. The excitement of that moment 
may indeed excuse what nothing can fully justify. General 
Sherman had given most noble testimony in favor of the Union 
cause ; every thought of his mind and every aspiration of his 
heart were given to the best interests of his country. He 
never failed us in the hour of need ; and on the very date of 
this bulletin, April 21st, he wrote a letter to an old personal 
fiiend in North Carolina, which is here reproduced, and which 
has the same ring of intense patriotism which characterized 
every act and every thought of his eventful career, and shows 
how foreign from his mind all unworthy motives were at that 
time. 

" I have before me your letter addressed to General Hawley, 
inclosing a paper signed by John Dawson, Edward Kiddon, 
and others, testifying to your feehngs of loyalty "and attach- 
ment to the Government of the United States. Of course, I 
am gratified to know the truth as to one for whom I entertained 
friendship, dated far back m other and better days. I will be 
frank and honest with you. Simple passive submission to 
events, by a man in the prime of hfe, is not all that is due to 
society in times of revolution. Had the Northern men resid- 
ing at the South spoken out manfully and truly at the outset, 
the active secessionists could not have carried the masses of 
men as they did. 

" It may not be that the war could have been avoided, but 
the rebellion would not have assumed the mammoth propor- 
tions it did. The idea of war to perpetuate slavery in 1861 
was an insult to the intelligence of the age. As long as the 



THE REJECTED AGREEMENT. 433 

South abided by the conditions of our fundamental compact 
of government, the constitution, all law-abiding citizens were 
bound to respect the property in slaves, whether they approved 
or not ; but when the South violated that compact openly, 
publicly, and violently, it was absurd to suppose we were 
bound to respect that kind of property, or in fact any kind of 
property. 

"I have a feeling allied to abhorrence towards Northern 
men resident South, for their silence or acquiescence was one 
of the causes of the war assuming the magnitude it did ; and, 
in consequence, we mourn the loss of such men as John F. 
Reynolds, McPherson, and thousands of noble gentlemen, any 
one of whom was worth all the slaves of the South, and half 
the white population thrown in. 

" The result is nearly accomplished, and is what you might 
have foreseen, and in a measure prevented — desolation from 
the Ohio to the GuK, and mourning in every household." 

Of General Sherman's mihtary ability, vigor, enterprise, 
patriotism, and zeal for the public good, no generous or just 
mind can entertain a doubt. Of the general soundness of his 
judgment, he has also given conspicuous proofs. His policy 
in regard to trade in cotton, and in regard to the proper treat- 
ment of the inhabitants of conquered territory during the ex- 
istence of war, was much in advance of the President and 
cabinet ; and his personal knowledge of the condition, temper, 
and spirit of the Southern people entitled his opinions to 
greater weight than those of any other general officer in the 
field. Nevertheless, conditions of peace which may appear fair 
to a soldier, may, in the view of a statesman, appear inad- 
missible ; but the fact that an able and experienced soldier 
entertains them, ought to shield them from that sort of con- 
demnation which belongs to voluntary complicity with treason. 

Nor did this unfortunate affair begin and end with Mr. 
Stanton alone. On the 26th of April, General Halleck, then 
at Richmond, in command of the Military Division of the 
James, dispatclied a telegram to the War Department at 

28 



4:34: SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Washington, amongst other things, advising that instructionf 
be given to General Sherman's subordinate officers to obey no 
orders given by him. This telegram was immediately commu- 
nicated by the secretary of war to General Dix, and made 
pubhc through the daily newspapers. Meeting Sherman's 
notice a fortnight later, it excited his indignation to the high- 
est pitch. In his anger, he would listen to no excuse for what 
he deemed the treachery of his former friend. He considered 
the action of General Halleck as uncalled for and unpardon- 
able ; and when the fact became known to him, on the 10th 
of May, TVTote to General Halleck : " After your dispatch to 
Mr. Stanton, of April 26th, I cannot have any friendly inter- 
course with you. I will come to City Point to-morrow, and 
march with my troops, and I prefer we should not meet." 
Further correspondence ensued between the same officers, 
but General Sherman seems to have felt that his honor had 
been assailed through design or indifference, and that in either 
case the act was too gross for pardon. He curtly declined a 
complimentary review tendered his troops by General Halleck, 
and caused his troops to march through the city without 
taking any notice whatever of that officer. 

Neither Grant or Sherman knew of Mr. Stanton's bulletin 
until several days after its publication. Indeed, General Sher- 
man was profoundly ignorant of it, and of the storm of indig- 
nation it had raised at home against him, until on his way 
home from Savannah, whither he had gone to make sundry 
dispositions for the government of his subordinate command- 
ers, while his army was on the march to Richmond, and not 
knowing of the instructions issued from the War Office to dis- 
regard his orders, and at a moment when, unconscious of hav- 
ing done wrong, happy that the war was over, justly proud 
of the honorable part he had acted in it, and delighted with 
the prospect of soon meeting his family and friends from 
whom he had been long separated, he was on his way home 
to rest from his hard labors. Instead of commendation for 
having done his country some service, it seemed to his sensi- 
tive mind that he could read of nothing and hear of nothing 



THE REJECTED AGREEMENT 435 

but abuse or suspicion. Instead of coming home filled with 
a soldier's pride and happiness, he felt he was returning like a 
culprit to defend himself against the unjust suspicions of a 
Government and people he had so faithfully served. Smart- 
ing under the rebuke of the Government and the comments of 
the press, he attributed both to personal hostihtj and a settled 
prearranged design of undermining his influence and destroy- 
ing his popularity, and resented both on all occasions, public 
and private. The most offensive part of the entire matter to 
him w^as that General Halleck should have recommended and 
Mr. Stanton published, that subordinate officers should be in- 
structed in the same manner and to the same effect of General 
"Washington's orders after the defection of Benedict Arnold ! 



436 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE XXXIV. 



HOMEWAKD. 



TiiE liistorian who shall hereafter chronicle, in full, the 
events of the civil war in America, and sketch the men who 
therein figured most prominently, will find the path by which 
General Sherman ascended as straight as it was diflicult of 
ascent. IJis patriotism was not of that doubtful character 
which seeks reward through the forms of Government con- 
tracts. He was born with the instincts of a soldier, was edu- 
cated for a soldier, and was ambitious to do the work of a 
soldier. He loved the Union, and ever set himself against the 
dangerous heresy that would admit of its peaceful dissolution. 
A resident of the South before the war, as soon as he divined 
the purposes of the secessionists, he broke away and arranged 
himseH with the friends of the Union. WhUe Mr. Stanton was 
yet a member of Mr. Buchanan's cabinet, and while such men 
as Jefi"erson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, and Jacob Thompson 
were yet in office under the Government of the United States, 
and all-powerful in their influence over President Buchanan, 
Sherman had already determined to resign an honorable po- 
sition in the State of Louisiana and offer his services to 
sustain the cause of the Union. On the 18th of January, 1861, 
as we have already seen, he wrote to Governor Moore : "If 
Louisiana withdraws from the Federal Union, I prefer to 
maintain my allegiance to the old constitution as long as a 
fragment of it remains, and my longer stay here would be 
wrong in every sense of the word." He saw the war coming, 
and gave the alarm, whilst others cried, " Peace ! be still !" 



HOMEWARD. 437 

As soon as Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, he visited him, and 
warned him that the South was organizing a formidable rebel- 
lion, that the Southern people were united and in earnest, and 
that they would take us all unprepared. He declared to his 
countrymen they were sleeping on a volcano, all imconscious 
of the danger. He scouted the idea of putting down the 
rebellion with three months' militia. The disastrous result 
of the battle of Bull Run confirmed him in his views of the 
utter inutility of the temporary expedients of the Government, 
and he so declared. Sent to the West, he called for an army 
of two hundred thousand men, to operate from Kentucky as a 
base, and reclaim the navigation of the Mississippi River. 
As early as 1862, he declared cotton prize of war, long in ad- 
vance of the Government ; and in 1863 he estabhshed trade 
regulations for Memphis and other places within his depart- 
ment ; and finally, after aiding in that series of brilliant 
mihtary operations which opened the Father of Waters " to 
go unvexed to the sea," he assisted Lieutenant-General Grant 
in planning the two conclusive campaigns of the war — the one 
towards Richmond, and the other towards Atlanta — so event- 
ful of result ; and in executing his part of the programme, 
fought Joe Johnston one hundred and twenty-five days suc- 
cessively, and at length captured Atlanta, at a moment when 
our natural resources were well-nigh exhausted, and the na- 
tional heart sick with long watching and waiting for success. 
Striking out boldly from Atlanta to the sea, guided solely by 
his own judgment, against the advice of General Halleck, and 
with the approbation of General Grant alone, he cut loose 
from his base, descended into Georgia, struck terror into the 
heart of the rebellion, captured Savannah, and planted our 
victorious standards on the shore of the Atlantic. Striking 
out again, he captured Pocotaligo and Columbia, compelled 
the evacuation of Charleston, laid waste the State of South 
Carolina, again met and whipped Joe Johnston, and after 
marching and fighting for twelve mouths, without rest, he 
halted his victorious army at the capital of North Carolina, 
in time to witness the funeral ceremonies of the Confederacy 



438 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

and the complete triumpli of our cause. And for wliat ? — to 
be the subject of such utterly unfounded suspicions, as to be 
by some even suspected for a traitor ! History furnishes no 
example of such cruel ingratitude and injustice. 

Immediately on the conclusion of the definitive cartel of 
surrender, General Sherman issued the following orders, for 
the future movement of his army. Its work was done, and 
nothing remained for the greater portion of it, not required 
to garrison the conquered territory, but to return home and 
disband. 

" Headqtjaeteks Military Division of the Mississippi, 
" In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, April 37, 1865. 

" Special Field Orders, No. 66." 

" Hostilities having ceased, the following changes and dis- 
positions of the troops in the field will be made with as little 
delay as practicable : — 

" I. The Tenth and Twenty-third corps will remain in the 
Department of North Carolina, and Major-General J. M. Scho- 
field will transfer back to Major-General Gillmore, command- 
ing Department of the South, the two brigades formerly be- 
longing to the division of brevet Major-General Grover, at 
Savannah. The Third division, cavalry corps, brevet Major- 
General J. Kilpatrick commanding, is hereby transferred to 
the Department of North Carolina, and General Kilj)atrick 
will report in person to Major-General Schofield for orders. 

" II. The cavalry command of Major-General George Stone- 
man will return to East Tennessee, and that of brevet Major- 
General J. H. Wilson will be conducted back to the Tennes- 
see River, in the neighborhood of Decatur, Alabama. 

" III. Major-General Howard will conduct the Army of the 
Tennessee to Richmond, Yirginia, following roads substan- 
tially by Lewisburg, Warrenton, Lawrenceville, and Peters- 
btu"g, or to the right of that line. Major-General Slocum will 
conduct the Army of Georgia to Richmond by roads to the 
left of the one indicated for General Howard, viz.^ by Oxford, 
Boydton, and Nottoway Courthouse. These armies will turn 



HOMEWARD. 439 

in at this point the contents of their ordnance trains, and use 
the wagons for extra forage and provisions. These columns 
will be conducted slowly and in the best of order, and aim to 
be at Richmond, ready to resume the march, by the middle of 
May. 

" IV. The chief-quartermaster and commissary of the mih- 
tary division, Generals Easton and Beckwith, after making 
proper dispositions of their departments here, will proceed to 
Eichmond and make suitable preparations to receive those 
columns, and to provide them for the further journey." 

On the 10th of March, Sherman himself set out for Alexan- 
dria, Virginia, whither he arrived on the 19 th. During those 
nine days of dreary march along the war-paths and across the 
batiie-fields of the Army of the Potomac, he had ample op- 
portunity for reflection on the vanity of aU human glory. He 
thought much and anxiously upon his own peculiar situation, 
reviewed carefully all his former relations with Mr. Stanton, to 
discover, if possible, what motive he had for turning upon him ; 
and looked into the newspapers hoping to find some disavowal 
or note of explanation, on the part of Mr. Stanton, that would 
disabuse the public mind of the false impressions he had him- 
self created ; but all in vain. The public mind had settled 
down into the opinion that General Sherman was not quite 
as bad as had been supposed ; but still there was something, 
it was beheved, in regard to his case, very inexphcable. Under 
such circumstances it was some relief to his sense of injury, 
to write and forward to a personal friend the following letter, 
dated at Camp Alexandria,— the first word to the pubHc fi'om 
him in regard to the matter : — 

" I am just arrived. AU my army wiU be in to-day. I have 
been lost to the world in the woods for some time, yet, on 
arriving at the ' settlements,' find I have made quite a stir 
among the people at home, and that the most sinister motives 
have been ascribed to me. I have been too long fighting with 
real rebels with muskets in their hands to be scared by mere 



440 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

non-combatants, no matter how high their civil rank or sta- 
tion. It is amusing to observe how brave and firm some men 
become Avhen all danger is past. I have noticed on field of 
battle brave men never insult the captured or mutilate the 
dead ; but cowards and laggards always do. I cannot now re- 
call the act, but Shakspeare records how poor Falstaif, the 
prince of cowards and wits, rising from a feigned death, 
stabbed again the dead Percy, and carried his carcass aloft in 
triumph to prove his valor. 

" Now that the rebellion in our land is dead, how many Fal- 
staffs appear to brandish the evidence of their valor, and seek 
to appropriate honors and the pubhc applause for deeds that 
never were done ! 

" As to myself, I ask no reward, no popularity ; but I sub- 
mit to the candid judgment of the world, after aU the facts 
shall be known and understood. 

" I do want peace and security, and the return to law and 
justice from Maine to the Rio Grande ; and if it does not exist 
noiu, substantially, it is for State reasons beyond my compre- 
hension. It may be counted strange that one who has no 
fame but as a soldier should have been so careful to try and 
restore the civil power of the Government, and the peaceful 
jurisdictions of the federal courts ; but it is difficult to discover 
in that fact any just cause of offence to a free and enlightened 
people. But when men choose to slander and injure, they can 
easily invent the necessary facts for the purj)ose when the 
proposed victim is far away engaged in jDublic service of their 
own bidding. But there is consolation in knowing that though 
truth Hes in the bottom of a well, the Yankees have persever- 
ance enough to get to that bottom." 

General Sherman now determined not to visit Washington, 
but to remain in camp with his army until he should receive 
further orders from General Grant. Afterwards, on being in- 
vited by General Grant, he visited him at his headquarters in 
Washington ; and, on being informed by him that the President 
bad expressed a desire to see him, he called immediately on 



HOMEWAED. 



441 



the President, and then learned, for the iirst time, that the tel- 
egram published by Mr. Stanton on the 22d of April, and the 
" nine reasons" given as those of the President and cabinet 
were the work of Mr. Stanton alone. This fact settled, there 
was now no ill-feeling between General Sherman and the officers 
of the Government, and the matter thus became a personal 
affair between him and Mr. Stanton alone. General Sherman 
did not complain that his agreement with Johnston was disap- 
proved. The merits and demerits of that agreement were 
matters of opinion and judgment, and the President had the 
right, and it was his duty, to exercise his best judgment, and 
his action in the premises could be no just ground of complaint. 
It was the publication that constituted the gravamen of the 
offence ; its tone and style, the insinuations it contained, the 
false inferences it occasioned, and the offensive orders to the 
subordinate officers of General Sherman, which succeeded the 
publication — these were the causes of the trouble, and for 
these Mr. Stanton was alone responsible. 

On the 20th of May, both the grand armies of the Union 
were encamped in the vicinity of the national capital. The 
war was over, and our noble volunteers were about to be dis- 
banded. Before these grand armies should be dispersed, 
however, the heutenant-general proposed to give them a 
handsome review. The wide streets of Washington were ad- 
mirably adapted for such purpose. The re\'iew of the Army 
of the Potomac was ordered for the 23d, and that known as 
Sherman's army, for the 24tli. Thousands of people, from all 
parts of the country, flocked to Washington to witness the 
grand pageant, and to express then- admiration for the noble 
men who had brought home peace. The most ample prepa- 
rations had been made for the occasion. The President was 
seated on an elevated stand, surrounded by his cabinet officers, 
foreign ministers, distinguished strangers, their -odves and 
daughters and personal friends; Pennsj'lvania Avenue was 
lined on both sides, and from end to end, mth admiring people ; 
every window presented its tableau of fair spectators ; and 
the occasion was such as never before was witnessed on the 



442 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

American continent. Those great armies now passing in 
review within sight of that vast assemblage were, surely, 
calculated to impress all beholders with a profound sense 
of the greatness and power of the United States ; and were 
it not for those tattered banners, which tell us of the distant 
battle-fields on which these regiments contended for the 
mastery, of the hand to hand conflict, and of comrades slain, 
we might rejoice without a feehng of sorrow. Nevertheless 
we may rejoice, for those brave men by their marching 
and fighting brought home to their distracted land the bless- 
ing of peace, and we can now look up to heaven and bless 
God that it is so ! From end to end, fi-om side to side, along 
the shore, amid the valley and on the mountain-toj) — all are 
at peace ! 

As before mentioned, the review of General Sherman's 
army was on the 24th of May. The day was exceedingly 
beautiful. The army was uniformed and equipped as on the 
march ; there was no attempt at mere military display. Com- 
manders appeared to take pride in presenting their respective 
commands as they served on the march and in the field. The 
foragers were out in force, with their pack-trains loaded with 
forage and provisions ; the pioneer corps, composed of black 
men, carried their axes, spades, and shovels ; while the cavalry, 
infantry, and artillery made an imposing display of the three 
arms of the service. General Sherman rode at the head of 
the column, and as he moved slowly along the avenue, he was 
greeted with cheers on every side ; the ladies in the exuber- 
ance of thek joy waved their congratulations, covered him 
with bouquets of flowers, and bedecked his horse with ever- 
greens. None were so much surprised at these manifestations 
of I'espect as himself. Ai'riving opposite the headquarters of 
Major-General Augur, the chief was observed to turn aside, 
halt, and lift his hat, in token of the most profound respect. 
This was an*act of courtesy from the soldier to the statesman. 
Mr. Seward, too ill to take his place beside the President, had 
been brought to General Augur's headquarters, and wrapped 
in the robes of the sick-chamber, stood for a moment at the 



HOMEWARD. 



443 



window to exchange Scalutations with the great miHtarj chief. 
It was a touching siglit. 

The President's stand was erected in front of the Wliite 
House ; fi-om it wings had been extended to the right and left, 
so that the grounds of the White House, fronting on Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue, were nearly covered. These were all soon 
Passed by the head of the column, when the general wheeled 
out, dismounted, and ascended the stairs, to take his place 
near the lieutenant-general. On making his appearance on 
the stand, he was cordially met by the President, Lieutenant- 
General Grant, and Messrs. Dennison, Speed, and Harlin of 
the cabinet, and received their hearty congratulations while 
his veteran army moved on in their triumphal march. Mr. 
Stanton rose also and offered his hand, as if pleased to con- 
gratulate General Sherman ; hut the latter affected not to see him ! 

There are those who, lightly estimating injuries to character 
and reputation, especially when their own are not involved, who 
regretted General Sherman should have taken that occasion 
to resent what he deemed a personal insult; and will still 
more regret to find the memory of the event herein perpetu- 
ated ; yet there is some consideration due to the sensitiveness 
of a soldier who felt his honor had been questioned : and since, 
under the circumstances, he could not, without hypocrisy, re- 
ceive Mr. Stanton's congratulations, it was well he did not 
observe their tender. 

General Sherman now prepared to take leave of his army. 
There is something exceedingly touching in the exhibition of 
that ardent attachment which always exists between the 
officers and men of a well-ordered and properly disciphned 
army. All General Sherman's dispatches show liis high esti- 
mate of the valor of his troops ; and on the other hand, his 
officers and men were equally proud of their chief. In truth, 
the material of that army was never surpassed in any age or 
country. Lord Melville once declared in parliament, that 
" bad men made the best soldiers," and we are told the un- 
worthy sentiment had many admii-ers in England. But not so 
in this country. The men who fought the battles of the 



444 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Union were among tlie best in the land, and in the general, 
were improved by their patriotic experience. They now 
understand better the unspeakable blessings of peace ; they 
know better the value of friendships ; they can better submit 
to hardships ; they are better quahfied to preserve order and 
obey the laws, and are better Christians than when they first 
entered the military service. Bad men are made worse hf 
military service, but good men are made better. And it is 
confidently believed that " Sherman's men," as they are 
familiarly called, and as they are proud to call themselves, 
will prove to be as distinguished in the pursuits of peace as 
they were renowned in the feats of war. 

We conclude this chapter with General Sherman's farewell 
order to his troops. To be the author of such an order, with 
such good cause to write it, is a happiness but few soldiers 
ever enjoyed. 

" Headquakters Militaey Drv^isioN op the Mississippi, 
In the field, WasMngton, D. C, May 30, 1865. 

" Special Field Orders, No. *I6. 
" The general commanding announces to the Armies of the 
Tennessee and Georgia, that the time has come for us to part. 
Our work is done, and armed enemies no longer defy««nis. 
Some of you will be retained in service until further orders. 
And now that we are about to separate, to mingle with the 
civil world, it becomes a pleasing duty to recall to mind the 
situation of national affairs when, but little more than a year 
ago, we were gathered about the twining chifs of Lookout 
Mountain, and all the future was wrapped in doubt and un- 
certainty. Three armies had come together from distant fields, 
with separate histories, yet bound by one common cause — the 
union of our country and the perpetuation of the Government 
of our inheritance. There is no need to recall to your memo- 
ries Tunnell Hill, with its Eocky Face Mountain, and Buzzard 
Roost Gap, with the ugly forts of Dalton behind. We were 
in earnest, and paused not for danger and difficulty, but 
dashed through Snake Creek Gap, and fell on Eesaca, then 



HOMEWARD. ^5 

on to the Etowah, to Dallas, Kenesaw ; and the heats of sum- 
mer found us on the banks of the Chattahoochee, far from 
home and dependent on a single road for supplies. Again we 
were not to be held back by any obstacle, and crossed over 
and fought four heavy battles for the possession of the citadel 
of Atlanta. That was the crisis of our liistory. A doubt still 
clouded our future ; but we solved the problem, and destroyed 
Atlanta, struck boldly across the State of Georgia, secured all 
the main arteries of life to our enemy, and Christmas found 
us at Savannah. Waiting there only long enough to fill our 
wagons, we again began a march, which for peril, labor, and 
results will compare with any ever made by an organized 
army. The floods of the Savannah, the swamps of the Com- 
bahee and Edisto, the high hills and rocks of the Santee, the 
flat quagmu-es of the Pedee and Cape Fear rivers, were all 
passed in midwinter, with its floods and rains, in the face of 
an accumulating enemy ; and after the battles of Averysboro' 
and Bentonsville, we once more came out of the wilderness to 
meet our friends at Goldsboro'. Even then we paused only 
long enough to get new clothing, to reload our wagons, and 
again pushed on to Raleigh, and beyond, until we met our 
enemy, suing for peace instead of war, and ofi'ering to submit 
to the injured laws of hi^ and our country. As long as that 
enemy was defiant, nor mountains, nor rivers, nor swamps, nor 
hunger, nor cold had checked us ; but when he who had fought 
us hard and persistently, offered submission, your general 
thought it wrong to pursue him further, and negotiations fol- 
lowed which resulted, as you all know, in his surrender. How 
far the operations of the army have contributed to the over- 
throw of the Confederacy, of the peace which now dawns on 
us, must be judged by others, not by us. But that you have 
done all that men could do has been admitted by those in 
authority ; and we have a right to join in the universal joy 
that fills our land because the war is over, and our Govern- 
ment stands vindicated before the world by the joint action of 
the volunteer armies of the United States. 

" To such as remain in the mihtary service, your general 



446 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

need only remind you tiiat successes in the past are due to 
hard work and disciphne, and that the same work and disci- 
pKne are equally important in the future. To such as go home, 
he will only say, that our favored country is so grand, so ex- 
tensive, so diversified in climate, soil, and productions, that 
every man may surely find a home and occupation suited to 
his tastes ; and none should yield to the natural impotence 
sure to result from our past life of excitement and adventure. 
You will be invited to seek new adventure abroad ; but do not 
yield to the temptation, for it will lead only to death and dis- 
appointment. 

" Your general now bids you all farewell, with the full behef 
that, as in war you have been good soldiers, so in peace you 
will make good citizens ; and if, unfortunately, new war should 
arise in our country, Sherman's army will be the first to buckle 
on the old armor and come forth to defend and maiiitain the 
Government of our inheritance and choice. 



DIGRESSIVE. 



447 



CHAPTEE XXXy. 

DIGRESSIVE. 

In preparing the foregoing pages, in order to avoid those 
digressions wliicli often mar the continuity of a narrative, we 
have omitted several letters of interest Avhich will be given in 
this chapter. 

During the first year of the war, the newspaper press unwit- 
tingly occasioned great embarrassment to the army. Such was 
the pubhc greed for news, that publishers had their correspond- 
ents in every camp, who did not hesitate to give pubUcity to 
any and all operations of the army ; so that, while the people 
were merely gratified, the enemy was advised and greatly 
benefited. General Sherman was among the first to perceive 
and attempt to reform this evil. It required a bold man to 
run counter to the wishes of the newspaper press. Neverthe- 
less he did not hesitate to do so, when he judged that the best 
interests of the country required it. In 1861, while in com- 
mand in Kentucky, he was not only embarrassed but alarmed, 
in finding all his operations teleg>:aphed and pubhshed in the 
daily papers, even his plans foreshadowed, and the number 
and strength of his forces given. At that time, the allegiance 
of Kentucky was hollow and compulsory. In fact, many of 
her young men had gone into the armies of the Confederacy, 
leaving their relatives and fi-iends behind to act the part of 
spies and informers. Kentucky was then our point of support 
for the operations of the Valley of the Mississippi, and we Avere 
obhged to draw our lines through counties and districts whose 
people were only boimd to us by a fear that was taciturn. 



418 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

supple, and treacherous, and which, Hke the ashes of volcanoes, 
concealed terrific flames, the eruption of which might be in- 
duced or provoked by the slightest cause. General Sherman, 
conscious of his weakness, and of the dangers by which he 
was surrounded, banished every newspaper correspondent 
from his lines, and declared summary punishment for all who 
should in future give information of his strength, position, or 
movements. A proceeding so unusual was ill-appreciated by 
the press, and the result was a hvely fire in the rear, which 
was somewhat annoying to him. Nevertheless he persisted 
in this pohcy throughout the war ; and the further our lines 
were advanced into the enemy's country, the more valuable 
became the rule. The following letter was written, early in 
1863, in vindication of his pohcy : — 

" Wlien John C. Calhoun announced to President Jackson 
the doctrine of secession, he did not bow to the opinion of 
that respectable source, and to the vast array of people of 
whom Mr. Calhoun was the representative. He saw the wis- 
dom of preventing a tlireatened evil by timely action. He 
answered instantly : * Secession is treason, and the penalty for 
treason is death.' Had Jackson yielded an inch, the storm 
would then have swept over this country. 

" Had Mr. Buchanan met the seizure of our mints and 
arsenals in the same spirit, he would have kept this war within 
the Hmits of actual traitors, but by temporizing he gave the 
time and opportunity for the organization of a rebeUion of 
half the nation. 

" So m this case. Once establish the principle asserted by 
you, that the press has a right to keep paid agents m our 
camps, independent of the properly accredited commanders, 
and you would be able soon to destroy any army ; we would 
then have not only rebelhon on our hands, but dissensions and 
discord in our armies, mutiny in our camps, and disaster to 
our arms. In regard to this matter I may be mistaken, but 
for the time being I must be the judge. 

" I am no enemy to freedom of thought, freedom of speech 



•^ 



DIGRESSIVE. 



449 



and of the press ; but the army is no proper place for con- 
troversies. When armies take the field all discussion should 
cease. No amount of argument will move the rebellion ; the 
rebels have thrown aside the pen and taken the sword. We 
must do the same, or perish or be conquered, and become the 
contempt of all mankind." 

But newspaper correspondents are not so easily put down 
by the pen alone, although it may be wielded by the hand that 
holds the sword as well. During the forepart of 1863, Mr. 
Thomas W. Knox, a correspondent for the New York Herald, 
w^as excluded fi'om our hues in the department commanded by 
General Grant, in consequence of offensive language used by 
him in letters published in the newspaper with which he was 
connected. Mr. Knox appealed to the President, who, after 
hearing his statement of the case, allowed him to return to 
General Grant with a letter, as follows : — 

" Whereas, it appears to my satisfaction that Thomas W. 
Knox, a correspondent of the New York Herald, has been, by 
the sentence of court-martial, excluded from the mihtary de- 
partment of Major- General Grant, and also that General 
Thayer, president of the court, and Major-General McClernand, 
in command of a corps of that department, and many other 
respectable persons, are of opinion that Mr. Knox's offence 
was technically rather than wilfully wrong, and that the sen- 
tence should be revoked, therefore said sentence is hereby re- 
voked, so far as to allow Mr. Knox to return to General Grant's 
headquarters, and to remain, if General Grant shall give his 
express assent, and to again leave the department if General 
Grant refuse such assent." 

Whereupon General Grant addi-essed Mr. Knox : — 

" The letter of the President of the United States authoriz- 
ing you to return to these headquarters, and to remain with 

29 



450 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

mj consent, or leave if such consent is withheld, has been 
shown to me. 

" You came here first in violation of a positive order from 
General Sherman. Because you were not pleased with his 
treatment of army followers who had violated his orders, you 
attempted to break down his influence with his command and 
to blast his reputation with the pubhc ; you made insinuations 
against his sanity, and said many things which were untrue, 
and so far as your letter had influence, it was calculated to 
injure the public service. General Sherman is one of the 
purest men, and one of the ablest soldiers in the country ; you 
have attacked him and have been sentenced to expulsion from 
the department for such offence. Whilst I would conform to 
the slightest wish of the President, where it is founded on a 
fair representation of both sides of any question, my respect 
for General Sherman is such, that in this case I must decline, 
unless General Sherman first gives his consent for your re- 
maining." 

Mr. Knox then addressed General Sherman : — 

" Inclosed please find copy of the order of the President, 
authorizing me to return to this department, and to remain, 
with General Grant's approval. General Grant has expressed 
his willingness to give such approval, provided there is no 
objection from yourself. 

" Without referring in detail to past occurrences, permit me 
to express my regret at the want of harmony between j)ortions 
of the army and the press, and the hope there may be a better 
feeling in future. I should be pleased to receive your assent 
in the present subject-matter. The eyes of the whole North 
are now turned upon Yicksburg, and the history of the events 
soon to culminate in its fall will be watched with great eager- 
ness. Your favor in the matter will be dvdy appreciated by 
the journal I represent as well as myself." 

The secular press of this country is a great power, for both 
good and evil, and the man who can show us how we may 



DIGRESSIVE. 451 

liave tli& one without the other, will prove himself a great 
benefactor of his race. But this is impossible. Honest truth 
is too slow for enterprising error ; truth stays at home, and 
waits to entertain such friends as come to seek her counsels, 
while error, with her specious promises and plausible theories, 
advertises in the newspapers, and careers through the world. 
The reason why the press is not an unmixed good, is because 
all editors, publishers, and correspondents are not cultivated, 
high-toned, honest, and honorable men. But if they were so, 
and if they earnestly and faithfully set themselves to work to 
teach the people virtue, and to publish nothing but unvar- 
nished truth, such is the character of mankind, they would 
have but few pupils. The stream can rise no higher than its 
fountain, and a people are no better than the newspapers 
they read. 

The calling of the editor, in this country, is as high and 
honorable as that of any of the learned professions. If his 
errors and folhes are more apparent than those of the lawyer, 
it is because they are more exposed to observation. The 
editor speaks every day to the public — the lawyer speaks but 
seldom, and then carefully before the judges. The man who 
talks much, is apt sometimes to talk unwisely. But the stand- 
ard of each is elevated or lowered according to the public 
demand. During the early part of the war, the public demand 
was for the sensational, and army correspondents were, for 
the most part, as deficient in good sense and judgment as in 
good manners. Subsequently, the public demand was for 
k'uth and fact, and only such as might be consistent with the 
pubhc interests ; and then, the letters from army correspond- 
ents became valuable contributions to authentic history. But 
the following letter to Mr. Knox in reply to the one just cited, 
bears on the former period, and the action in this case ended 
all controversy between General Sherman and army coi-res- 
pondents. 

"Tours of April 6th, inclosing a copy of the President's action 
m your case, and General Grant's letter to you, is received. 



452 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

I am surprised to learn that the officers named in the Presi- 
dent's letter have certified to him that the offence, for which 
you were tried and convicted, was merely technical — ^viz., dis- 
obedience of orders emanating from the highest mihtary au- 
thority, and the pubhcation of wilful and malicious slanders 
and libels against their brother officers. I cannot so regard 
the matter. 

" Aside from the judgment of a court, and upon your own 
theory of your duties and obligations alone, you must be ad- 
judged unfit to be here. After having enumerated to me the 
fact that newspaper correspondents were a fraternity, bound 
together by a common interest, that must write down all who 
stand in their way, and bound to supply the pubHc demand 
for news, even at the expense of truth and fact, if necessary, I 
cannot consent to the tacit acknowledgment of such a princi- 
ple by tolerating such a correspondent. Come Avith a musket 
or sword in your hand, prepared to share with us our fate in 
sunshine and in storm, in success and in defeat, in plenty and 
in scarcity, and I will welcome you as a brother and associate. 
But come as you now do, expecting me to ally the honor and 
reputation of my country and my fellow-soldiers with you as 
a representative of the press, — you who, according to your 
own theory, will not carefully distinguish between truth and 
falsehood, — and my answer is, never !" 

The militarj student of this day wall find a new element in 
his calculations, of which the campaigns of Napoleon will fur- 
nish no illustrations^ — namely, the value of the railway. It was 
the fortune of General Sherman, in his Atlanta campaign, to 
furnish an illustrious example of this interesting problem. 

Previous to that campaign, a single track, with suitable 
switches and turnouts, was estimated as being capable of 
transporting supplies and ammunition sufficient for an army, 
duly proportioned, one hundred thousand strong, one hundred 
miles from its base. Sherman's problem was to make it do 
the work for such an army at a distance of five hundred miles 
from its base. He started with three thousand and five hun- 



DIGRESSIVE. 



453 



dred wagons, ambulances included. He had tliirty-five thou- 
sand horses besides the cavalry. The hne of march was 
across a mountainous region, furnishing no supphes of pro- 
visions or forage. It was estimated the cavalry could gather 
sufficient forage for its own use, but forage for all other ani- 
mals had to be transported. All the beef was to be carried 
on the hoof. Baggage was economized to the last pound. 
Non-combatants of every character and description, except 
such as pertained to the medical department, were denied 
transportation. Even the agents of the Christian Commission, 
Avhose mission it was to administer to the bodily and spiritual 
wants of the dying soldier, were left in the rear, because they 
could not march on foot and carry their own supplies. But 
the problem was one of logistics and not of benevolence. It 
was a strictly mathematical calculation of food for a hundred 
thousand men, whose business it was to march and fight, and 
of ammunition with which to fight, and of forage for animals 
necessary and in constant use, with no margin for accidents 
or unusual misfortunes ; it was a problem of pure war, to 
which all other matters must yield. And in nothing did Gen- 
eral Sherman display the high qualities of a great commander 
more conspicuously, than in the firmness with which he ad- 
hered to the logic of his o^vn calculations. When the agents 
of the Christian Commission presented a petition for trans- 
portation of themselves and supplies, he indorsed on it : — 
" Certainly not — oats and gunpowder are more indispensable 
at the fi'ont than benevolent agents. The weight of every 
non-combatant transported deprives me of so many pounds of 
bread that I must have. Each regiment has its chaplain, and 
these must do the work desired." 

In 1863-4, our Government adopted the humane and liberal 
poHcy of issuing rations to the non-combatants of Eastern and 
Middle Tennessee, impoverished by the war, a policy which 
gave some embarrassment to military commanders in that re- 
gion. General Sherman found it so prejudicial to the military 
service that he discontinued it ; whereupon President Lincoln, 



454 SHEEMAI"^ AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

at the request of influential citizens of that State, expressed a 
desire the policy should be resumed. The Atlanta campaign 
had been planned without reference to the business of feeding 
the inhabitants of Tennessee, and it was evident, if the means 
of transportation were to be used for this purpose, the cam- 
paign must stop. General Sherman received the President's 
dispatch on the 5th of May, the day before his troops were 
put in motion, and dispatched the following answer : — 

" "We have worked hard with the best talent of the country, 
and it is demonstrated the railroad cannot supply the army 
and the people both. One or the other must quit eating ra- 
tions, and the army must be the last to quit, and don't intend 
to quit unless Joe Johnston makes us quit. The issue to citi- 
zens has been enormous, and the same weight in corn or oats 
would have saved thousands of mules whose carcasses now 
corduroy the roads in Tennessee, and which we need so much. 
We have paid Tennessee ten for one of provisions taken in 
war. I am now about to move, and cannot change the order. 
Let the petitioners hurry into Kentucky and make up a cara- 
van of cattle and wagons, and come over the mountains by 
Cumberland Gap and Somerset to reheve their suffering 
friends, as they used to do before a railroad was built. I am 
willing to reheA'^e all actual cases of suffering within our reach 
by appropriating the savings from soldiers' rations, which are 
considerable. A people long assisted by a generous Govern- 
ment are apt to rely more on the Government than on their 
own exertions." 

The earnestness which characterized all of General Sher- 
man's dispatches about this time, and the tenacity with which 
he adhered to military rules, show he felt he had work to do, 
and that he had resolved to do it. He thought of nothing but 
his army ; all others must take care of themselves. 

In all wars of long duration there are periods of reaction 
and irresolution among the people at home, whose duty it is 
to sustain the war. Our great civil war turned out to be a 



DIGRESSIVE. 455 

greater affair than was at first sui3posed. The exhibitions of 
confidence and enthusiasm with which our early vohmteers 
were greeted on their way to the field will not soon be forgot- 
ten. How the people cheered ! how the bells pealed out ! how 
the flags waved ! Even the little boys and girls waved their 
tiny bunting in token of patriotic zeal. But when the tug of 
war came, and the contending armies, wresthng like giants for 
the mastery, after years of terrible struggling, marching, and 
fighting without success, needed re-enforcements in order to 
secure eventual triumph, and none seemed willing to help, our 
troops in the field were not a little disheartened, and some de- 
serted. Nor was this all. There were those at home who 
tried to arrest the war, and tried to discourage recruiting, and 
tried to promote desertions ; and, availing themselves of a free 
press, spread their vicious sentiments through the army itself. 
It was to prevent such results that General Milroy applied to 
General Sherman for a remedy, which application called forth 
the following response, addressed to Major-General Thomas : — 

" In the Field, near Atlanta, August 5, 1864. 
" General Milroy's letter of July 26, with your indorsement, 
is now before me. He asks to suppress the sale and circula- 
tion, in his district, of certain mischievous and treasonable 
newspapers, and transmits to me certain shps as proofs of the 
mischievous character of such papers. I would wiUingly sup- 
press them were it possible -to do so, but in human nature 
there is so much of the mule left, that prohibition of a news- 
paper only increases its circulation. The press is a power in 
the land. For a quarter of a century past it had been sowing 
the whirlwind, and now we reap the storm. It is my opmion 
that the freedom of the press to pubHsh mischievous matter, 
like personal slander, hbel, false statements of facts, or other 
matter calculated to promote desertions in the army, or de- 
signed to give information to the enemy, -should be regulated 
by statute law. At present we are going through the expensive 
but natural process which may result in a resort to the knife 
and pistol for the defence of reputation. It is already demon- 



456 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

strated, we must use the military power to put down tlie cir- 
culation of newspapers hurtful to the public service. 

" The suppression of the few papers mentioned by General 
Milroy would be something like undertaking to dam up the 
tributaries of the Ohio to stop the flood of the Mississippi. 
If General Milroy finds anybody selhng mischievous publi- 
cations within the sphere of his authority, he might give him 
a good thrashing, or put him in the stocks; but he cannot 
reach the editors and jDublishers, who are making money by 
the publication in New York, Chicago, or Louisville. 

" Each military commander, subject to me, may suppress 
all disorders and immoralities in the sphere of his command 
as best he can : but my behef is, the proper remedy is to pun- 
ish the men who pubhsli the objectionable matter, if residing 
in his jurisdiction ; or if absent, then the party who circulates 
the papers. Give a good horsewhipping to any man who 
would dare advise a soldier to desert. This is all the notice I 
would take of such things at this epoch of the war." 

In May, 1863, the Union Club at Memphis, Tennessee, 
passed some resolutions commemorative of the restoration of 
law and order in that city, which were transmitted to General 
Sherman by a gentleman of that place, to which he responded 
as follows : — 

" Walnut Hills, Mississippi, May 25, 186S. 

" Tours of 18th instant is received. I thank you for the 
kind sentiments expressed, and desire you to express to the 
Union Club the assurance of my continued regard and in- 
terest. 

" In union are strength, power to do good, power to repress 
evil — honor, fame, and glory to our beloved country. In dis- 
union are weakness, discord, suspicion, ruin, and misery. 
How any well-balanced mind can hesitate in a choice between 
these passes my comprehension. Therefore, on all proper 
occasions, do honor to that day which saw our national emblem 
restored to its proper place in Memphis. Rejoice, and let 
your children rejoice, at each anniversary of the day which 



DIGRESSIVE. 457 

beheld the downfall, in jonv city, of that powerful faction 
which had for a long period usurped all the functions of gov- 
ernment, and made patriots tremble for their personal safety 
in the very centre of the republic. Now all is changed ; right- 
ful government once more prevails. The great Valley of the 
Mississippi comprises the principal interests of this country ; 
and Memphis is in the centre, and, like the heart, must regulate 
the pulsation of life throughout the more remote arteries and 
veins. Let me exhort you to be calm, magnanimous, and pa- 
tient. Boast not over your fallen neighbors, but convince 
them of their delusion, and that the Union men are above 
petty malice, and will even respect their prejudices, if not in- 
curable. 

" I deplore the devastation and misery that attend the pro- 
gress of the war ; but all history teaches that war, pestilence, 
and famine are the usual means by which the Almighty arrests 
the progress of error, and allays the storm of human passion." 

The long duration of the war, and the necessity of more 
troops to re-enforce our wasting armies, compelled Congress to 
pass a conscript law. The idea of a imiversal draft was espe- 
cially umvelcome to the people of New England. Their repre- 
sentatives were on the sharp lookout for expedients to save 
their people fi'om the sweeping operations of a general draft. 
To satisfy them, it was provided in the law that any State 
might raise volunteers in rebel States, to be credited to the 
quota of the States raising them, respectively ; and as the 
negroes were the only loyal people available in the rebel States, 
of course the only prospect of obtaining volunteers was in 
that direction. Eecruiting agents soon presented themselves 
to commanders of armies, duly certified from their respective 
States, full of confidence and zeal, and well assured that for 
every negro sent to the w^ar, one white man would be left at 
home. General Sherman, like many others, did not Hke that 
provision of the law. There was something about it unmanly ; 
it showed a disposition to shirk the duties of the citizen in a 
time of danger ; it showed that the desii-e of ease and the love 



458 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

of gain were beginning to prevail against tlie suggestions of 
patriotism and honor ; and the idea of shifting on the shoulders 
of the poor negroes the sacred duty of fighting the battles of 
the country, to the extent suggested, was offensive to our brave 
white men, who had been fighting hard and long to sustain 
OUT common Government, leaving all others home to profit by 
the war ; and they felt that those they left at home should 
now bear a hand. Besides this, the thing was wholly imprac- 
ticable. General Sherman submitted his objections, and the 
impracticable features of the measure, to the President, who, 
in answer, sent the following dispatch : — 

" Executive Chamber, July 18, 1864. 
"I have seen your dispatch, and objections to agents of 
Northern States opening recruiting near your camps. An act 
of Congress authorizes this, giving the appointment of agents 
to tire States, and not to the executive government. It is not 
for the "War Department or myself to restrain or modify the 
law in its execution, further than actual necessity may require. 
To be candid, I was for the passage of the law, not apprehend- 
ing at the time it would produce such inconvenience to armies 
in the field as you now cause me to fear. Many of t]ie States 
were very anxious for it. I hoped that, with State bounties 
and active exertions, they would get out substantial additions 
to our colored forces, which, unUke white troops, help us where 
they come from as well as where they go to. I still hope for 
advantage from the law, and being a law, it must be treated as 
such by all. We here will do all we can to save you from dif- 
ficulties arising from it. May I ask, therefore, that you will 
give it your hearty co-operation?" 

This letter of the President's was sufficient. There was the 
law, and there the expression of Mr. Lincoln's desire to see it 
carried out. It could make no difference that the law was not 
practicable of execution — it must be obeyed, and Sherman 
proceeded to give directions to carry it out. 

General Sherman did not always write in the vehement style. 



DiGSESSIVE. 



459 



Some of his letters have a spice of humor in them quite re- 
freshing, as the following specimen will show. The gentleman 
to whom it was addressed was a chaplain in the rebel army, 
who had been captured at Chattanooga, and relieved from 
capture, and, as it would seem, was relieved of his horse at the 
same time, which latter fact he felt to be a great hardship ; 
and when Sherman arrived at Atlanta the chaplain applied by 
letter, sent through our lines, for an order to compel the fellow 
who deprived him of his horse to restore him, or the general 
to send him another one in his stead. This was the gen- 
eral's decision, dated at Atlanta, on the 16th of September, 
1864 :— 

" Deae Sir — Your letter of September 14th is received. I 
approach a question involving a title to a ' horse' with defer- 
ence for the laws of war. That mysterious code, of which v»'e 
talk so much but know so little, is remarkably silent on the 
' horse.' He is a beast so tempting to the soldier, — to him of 
the wild cavalry, the fancy artiUer}^, or the patient infantry, — 
that I find more difficult}^ in recovering a worthless, spavined 
beast than in paying a million of ' gi'eenbacks ;' so that I fear 
I must reduce your claim to one of finance, and refer you to 
the great Board of Claims in Washington, that may reach 
your case by the time your grandchild becomes a great-grand- 
father. 

" Privately, I think it was a shabby thing in the scamp of 
the Thirty-first Missouri who took your horse, and the colonel 
or his brigadier should have restored him. But I cannot un- 
dertake to make good the sins of omission of my own colonels 
or brigadiers, much less those of a former generation. ' When 
this cruel war is over,' and peace once more gives you a parish, 
I will promise, if near you, to procure, out of one of Uncle 
Sam's corrals, a beast that will replace the one taken from you 
so wrongfully ; but now it is impossible. We have a big jour- 
ney before us, and need all we have, and, I fear, more too ; so 
look out when the Yanks are about and hide your beasts, for 
my experience is that all soldiers are very careless in a search 



460 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

for title. I know that General Hardee will confii'm tliis my 
advice." 

It will be recollected that Cliief-Justice Cliase, in tlie spring 
of 1865, doffed liis official robes, and, like a true American, 
made a journey South in search of a cure for the national dis- 
temper. The civil war had come to a pause. The leaders of 
the rebellion had been overthrown, and were now, like a com- 
munity of pirates, cast upon a desolate island in mid ocean, 
cursing each other, and dividing their ill-gotten gains amid 
thunder, and lightning, and storm. Abstract justice was on 
a tour of observation and inquiry ; and the presiding officer of 
the highest civil tribunal in the land met a leader of armies, 
when the two friends talked together. The topic of discussion 
was, the healing of the nation. The following letter indicates 
the convictions of the soldier. 

" Steamek Prussia, Beaufort Harbor, 
May 6, 1835—6 A. M. 

" On reaching this ship late last night, I found your valued 
letter, with the printed sheet, which I have also read. 
. " I am not yet prepared to receive the negro on terms of 
pohtical equality, for the reason it will raise passions and pre- 
iudices at the North, which, superadded to the causes yet 
dormant at the South, might rekindle the war, whose fires are 
now dying out, and which by skilful management might be 
kept down. As you must observe, I prefer to work with 
loiown facts, rather than to reason ahead to remote conclusions. 
By way of illustration, we are now weather-bound. Is it not 
best to lay quiet at anchor till those white-cap breakers look 
less angry, and the southwest winds shift ? I think all old 
sailors will answer yes ; whilst we, impatient to reach our goal, 
are tempted to dash through at risk of life and property. I 
am wilhng to admit that the conclusions you reach by pure 
mental process may be all correct ; but don't you think it 
better first to get the ship of State in some order, that it may 
be handled and guided ? Now, all at the South is pure anarchy. 



DiaRESSIVE. 4gl 

The military power of the United States cannot reach the 
people who are spread over a vast surface of country. 

" We can control the local State capitals, and, it may be, 
slowly shape political thoughts, but we cannot combat existing 
ideas with force. I say honestly, that the assertion openly of 
your ideas of universal negro suffrage, as a fixed poHcy of our 
General Government, to be backed by physical power, will pro- 
duce new war, sooner or later, and one which, from its des- 
ultory character, wiU be more bloody and destructive than 
the last, 

" I am rejoiced that you, upon whom devolves so much, are 
aiming to see facts and persons with your own eye. 

" I think the changes necessary in the future can be made 
faster and more certain, by means of our constitution, than by 
any plan outside of it. If now we go outside of the constitu- 
tion for a means of change, we rather justify the rebels in their 
late attempt. Whereas now, as General Schofield tells us, the 
people of the South are ready and willing to make the neces- 
sary changes without shock or violence. I have felt the past 
war as bitterly and keenly as any man could, and I frankly 
confess myself ' afraid' of a new war ; and a new war is bound 
to result from the action you suggest, of giving to the enfi-an- 
cliised negroes so large a share in the deUcate task of putting 
the Southern States in practical working relations with the 
General Government. The enfranchisement of the negi'o should 
be exceptional and not general, founded upon a standard of 
intelligence, or by reason of valuable military service during 
the war or hereafter." 

At the close of the war General Howard was made chief of 
the Freedmen's Bureau, headquarters at Washington. His 
duties were, " to correct that in which the law, by reason of 
its universality, was deficient." He was placed at the head of 
a species of Poor Law Board, with vague powers to define 
justice, and execute loving-kindness between four millions of 
emancipated slaves and all the rest of mankind. He was to 
be not exactly a mihtary commander, nor yet a judge of a 



462 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Court of Chancery, but a sort of combination of the religious 
missionary and school commissioner, with power to feed and 
instruct, and this for an empire half as large as Europe. But 
few officers of the army would have had the moral courage to 
accept such appointment, and fewer still were as well fitted to 
fill it, and discharge one-half its complicated and multifarious 
duties. As soon as General Howard concluded to accept his 
new appointment, he apprized his old commander of the fact 
by a friendly letter, and received the following in answer : — 

"In the Field, Dumfries, Va., May 17th, 18G5— 9 p. m. 

" Tour letter of May 12, inclosing General Orders, War De- 
partment, No. 91, of May 12, reached me here, on arrival at 
camp, about dark. 

" Colonel Strong is camped just behind me, General Logan 
about two miles back, and the Fifteenth Corps at Acquia 
Creek, eight miles back. Copies of orders No. 91 are being 
made, and will be sent back to them. I hardly know whether 
to congratulate you or not, but of one thing you may rest 
assured, that you possess my entire confidence, and I cannot 
imagine that matters that may involve the future of four mil- 
lions of souls could be put in more charitable and more con- 
scientious hands. So far as man can do, I beHeve you will, 
but I fear you have Hercules' task. God has Hmited the power 
of man, and though, in the kindness of your heart, you would 
alleviate all the ills of humanity, it is not in your power ; nor 
is it in your power to fulfil one-tenth part of the expectations 
of those who framed the bureau for the freedmen, refugees, 
and abandoned estates. It is simply impracticable. Yet you 
can and will do all the good one man may, and that is all you 
are called on as a man and Christian to do ; and to that extent 
count on me as a friend and fellow-soldier for counsel and 
assistance. I believe the negro is free by act of master and 
by the laws of war, now ratified by actual consent and power. 
The demand for his labor, and his ability to acquire and work 
land, will enable the negro to work out that amount of free- 
dom and political consequence to which he is or may be en- 



DIGRESSIVE. 453 

titled by natural riglit and the acquiescence of liis fellow- 
men. 

" There is a strong prejudice of race, which oyer our whole 
country exists. The negro is denied a vote in all the Northern 
States, save two or three, and then qualified by conditions not 
attached to the white race ; and by the constitution of the 
United States, to States is left the right to fix the qualification 
of voters. The United States cannot make negroes vote in 
the South, any more than they can in the North, without 
revolution ; and as we have just emerged fi'om one attempted 
revolution, it would be wrong to begin another. I notice in 
our country, one class of people make war and leave others 
to fight it out. 

" I do believe the people of the South realize the fact that 
their former slaves are free, and if allowed reasonable time, 
and are not harassed by confiscation and pohtical complica- 
tions, will very soon adapt their condition and interests to 
their new state of facts. 

" Many of them will sell, or lease on easy terms, parts of 
their land to their former slaves, and gradually the same 
political state of things will result as now exists in Maryland, 
Kentucky, and Missouri. The people cannot afi'ord to pay 
the necessary taxes to maintain separate colonies of negroes, 
or the armies needed to enforce the rights of negroes dwelling 
in the Southern States, in a condition antagonistic to the feel- 
ings and prejudice of the people, the result of which will be 
internal war, and the final extermination of the negro race. 
But I am not familiar with the laws of Congress which origin- 
ated your bureau, but repeat my entire confidence in your 
pure and exalted character, and your ability to do in the prem- 
ises all that any one man can do." 



464 SHEEMAN AND fflS CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTEE XXXVI. 



AT HOME. 



Relieved from the cares and responsibilities of his command, 
and while awaiting the further orders of the Government, 
Sherman sought and obtained permission from the lieutenant- 
general to \dsit his home, his family, and his friends. 

On his arrival at his old home, at Lancaster, Ohio, on the 
24th of June, 1865, General Sherman was met at the railway 
station by several thousands of his friends, neighbors, and 
veteran soldiers, and was welcomed by Judge Hunter, on the 
part of the citizens, and Colonel Connell, on behaK of the 
veterans. 

The general replied : — 

" Feiends of my Boyhood : 

" I thank you for this most hearty welcome. I am especially 
thankful for the kind words of the tried and valued friend of 
my family, Mr. Hunter, and for the warmth with which Colonel 
Connell and the soldiers have received me. With the latter, I 
can deal in very few words, for they know that with us words 
are few and mean much, and that when the time comes again, 
we wiU go where the stars and stripes lead, without asking 
many questions. 

" My old friends and neighbors, I knew your fathers before 
you better than yourselves, for it is near thirty years since I 
left here a boy ; and now, in full manhood, I find myself agam 
among you, with a name connected with the history of our 
country. 



AT HOME. 4(55 

"During the past four years my mind has been so intent 
upon but one thing — the success of our arms — that I have 
thought of nothing else. I claim no special honor, only to 
have clone a full man's share ; for when one's country is in 
danger, the man who will not defend it, and sustain it, with 
his natural strength, is no man at all. For this I claim no 
special merit, for I have done simply what all the boys in blue 
have done. I have only labored with the strength of a single 
man, and have used the brains I inherited and the education 
given by my country. The Var through which we have just 
passed has covered a wide area of country, and imposed upon 
us a task which, like a vast piece of machinery, requu'ed many 
parts, all of which were equally important to the working of 
the whole. Providence assigned me my part, and if I have 
done it, I am well satisfied. 

■" The past is now with the historian, but we must still 
grapple with the future. In this Ave need a guide, and, fortu- 
nately for us all, we can trust thfe constitution which has safely 
brought us through the gloom and danger of the past. Let 
each State take care of its own local interests and affairs — Ohio 
. of hers, Louisiana of hers, Wisconsin of hers — and the best 
results will follow. You all know well that I have lived much 
at the South, and I say that though we have had bitter and 
fierce enemies in war, we must meet this people again in peace. 
The bad men among them will separate fi'om those who ask 
for order and peace, and when the people do thus separate we 
can encourage the good, and, if need be, we can cut the head 
of the bad off at one blow. Let the present take care of the 
present, and with the faith inspired by the past, we can trust 
the future to the future. The Government of the United 
States and the constitution of our fathers have proven their 
strength and power in time of war, and I believe our whole 
country will be even more brilliant in the vast and unknown 
future than in the past. 

" Fellow-soldiers and neighbors, again I thank you. I do 
not wish you to consider this a speech at all, for I do not pro- 
fess to be a man of words.^ I prefer to see you separately, at 

30 



4_C)Q SHEKSIAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS, 

jour leisure, in a social way. I shall be with jou for some 
days, and shall be pleased to have you call in whenever you 
feel like it, in the old familiar way, without any of the formality 
and reserve which were proper enough in the midst of the 
armies." 

He remained with his family but a few days when an invita- 
tion from his old comrades of the Army of the Tennessee to 
attend their barbecue at Louisville, on the approaching 4th of 
July, in honor of victory and peace, again drew him fi'om his 
retirement. On his way to Louisville, he passed through 
Cincinnati, arriving there on the night of the 30th of June, to 
find that the citizens had hastily arranged a formal welcome. 

On making his appearance on the balcony of the Burnett 
House, Gen'eral Sherman was greeted with deafening cheers. 
Mr. Stanberry, in a pleasant and courteous speech, formally 
tendered the welcome of the city, and then, with a brief refer- 
ence to the general's extraordinary career, introdujced him to 
the citizens. Mr. Stanberry was frequently interrupted by 
applause, and at the close of his address three cheers were 
given for Sherman, who, in response, said : — 

" Fellow Citizens — I am not so accustomed to speaking as 
my friend Stanberry, and therefore you must be a little more 
silent as to noise, and charitable as to words. I am very 
proud that he, before every other man, has received me here 
on this portico, for, as he says, he knew my father before me, 
and all my family. He knew me when I was a little red- 
headed boy, running about Lancaster stealing his cherries. I 
am thankful that he has introduced me, for I believe he un- 
derstands the workings of my heart as well as I do myself, and 
I know that he can tell it better than I can, therefore I accept 
his version without quahfication. 

" While we are here together t6-night let me tell you, as a 
point of historical interest, that here, upon this spot, in this 
very hotel, and I think almost in the room through which I 
reached this balcony. General Grant and I laid do"^Ti our maps 



AT HOME. 



467 



and studied the campaign which ended onr war. I had been 
away down in Mississippi finishing up an unfinished job I had 
down there, when he called for me by telegraph to meet him 
in Nashville. But we were bothered so much there that we 
came up here, and in this hotel sat down with our maps and 
talked over the lines and the operations by means of which 
we were to reach the heart of our enemy. He went to Kich- 
mond, and I to Atlanta. We varied as to time ; but the result 
was just as we laid it out in this hotel, in March, 1864. 

" General Grant and I had only one object to fulfil. Our 
hearts and feehngs are one : we were determined the United 
States should survive this war with honor ; and that those who 
came after us, in future years and centuries, should never turn 
upon this generation and say we were craven cowards. Now 
what is the truth ? Are you not proud ? You are not proud 
of me, but you are proud of the result. General Grant, and 
General Sherman, and every other patriot think of but one 
thing ; we don't bother ourselves about local details ; we think 
of only one idea — the supremacy of our country represented 
by Congress, the judiciary, and the executive — the people be- 
ing a part of the grand whole. We may think differently 
about the roads, the mud, about horses and mules ; but in one 
thing we do not differ — that this country shall survive, and be 
honored not only here but all over the world. 

" When our thoughts are of this character, don't let us bother 
ourselves about little things. There are great thoughts abroad 
in America, and you and I and all of us are charged with them, 
and let us see that our country stands unchanged as to boun- 
daries. We have the best country on earth. Our history in 
the past is beautiful, and her future is in our keeping. I hope 
and pray that the present generation will maintain the present ; 
and I know that those who come after us will make that pres- 
ent more glorious than it now is. We have but begun the 
work. I have travelled from one part of the country to the 
other, and I know that we are almost in a state of wilderness 
yet. Not one acre in ten in Ohio, and not one in forty in Ten- 
nessee, is improved as it ought to be. Wiien we are as popu- 



468 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

lous as Europe, it will be time to tread upon oiu' neiglibor's 
heels. You in Ohio have the most lovely country the sun 
ever shone upon ; and every returned Ohio soldier, I hope, 
will take my advice and go to his farm and cultivate it the 
best he can, rather than wander away into new enterprises. 
For fifty years to come, at least, I never want to hear a word 
about war in America. If anybody, at home or abroad, treads 
upon our coat-tails we will be ready for a fight. But I am for 
peace now. The Army of the Tennessee is now peaceably 
disposed. We simply warn our friends not to tread upon 
our coat-tails ; that is all. " 

The general then thanked the people for the interest they 
had taken in his presence, and bid them good-night. 

The army received their old leader with cordial and unre- 
strained enthusiasm. After spending an agreeable anniver- 
sary among his old fellow-soldiers, Sherman went to St. Louis 
to assume formal command of his new military division, pre- 
paratory to availing himself of a more extended hohday. 

At a public dinner given to him by the citizens at St. Louis 
he spoke as follows : — 

" Here, in St. Louis, probably began the great centre move- 
ment which terminated the war — a battle-field such as never 
before was seen, extending from ocean to ocean almost, with 
the right wing and the left wing ; and from the centre here I 
remember one evening, up in the old Planters' House, sitting 
with General Halleck and General CuUum, and we were talk- 
ing about this, that, and the other. A map was on the table, , 
and I was explaining the position of the troops of the enemy 
in Kentucky when I came to this State. General Halleck 
knew well the position here, and I remember well the question 
he asked me — the question of the school teacher to his chUd 
— ' Sherman, here is the line : how will you break that line ?' 
' Physically, by a perpendicular force.' ' "\^rhere is the per- 
pendicular ?' ' The line of the Tennessee River.' General 
Halleck is the author of that first beginning, and I give hi m 



AT HOME. 



469 



credit for it with pleasure. Laying down his pencil upon the 
map, he said, ' There is the hne, and we must take it.' The 
capture of the forts on the Tennessee River by the troops led 
by Grant followed. These were the grand strategic features 
of that first movement, and it succeeded perfectly. 

" General HaUeck's plan went further — not to stop at his 
first line, which ran through Columbus, BowHng Green, cross- 
ing the river at Henry and Donelson, but to push on to the 
second line, which ran through Memphis and Charleston ; but 
troubles intervened at Nashville, and delays followed ; oppo- 
sition to the last movement was made, and I myself was 
brought an actor on the scene. 

" I remember our ascent of the Tennessee Eiver : I have 
seen to-night captains of steamboats who first went with us 
there. Storms came, and we did not reach the point we de- 
sired. A«t that time General C. F. Smith was in command. 
He was a man indeed : all the old officers remember him as a 
gallant and excellent officer ; and had he hved, probably some 
of us younger fellows would not have attained our present 
positions. But that is now past. We followed him the 
second time, and then came the landing of forces at Pittsburg 
Landing. Whether it was a mistake in landing them on the 
vv^est instead of the east bank, it is not necessary now to dis- 
cuss. I think it was not a mistake. There was gathered the 
first gi'eat army of the West, commencing with only twelve 
thousand, then twentj', then thirty thousand, and we had about 
thirty-eight thousand in that battle ; and all I claim for that 
is, that it was a contest for manhood : there was no strategy. 
Grant was there, and others of us, all young at that time, and 
unknown men, but our enemy was old, and Sidney Johnston, 
whom all the officers remembered as a power among the old 
officers, high above Grant, myself, or anybody else, led the 
enemy on that battle-field, and I almost wonder how we 
conquered. But, as I remarked, it was a contest for 
manhood — man to man — soldier to soldier. We fought, and 
we held our ground, and therefore accoimted oui'selves victo- 
rious. 



470 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" The possession of the Mississippi River is the possession 
of America, and I say that had the Southern Confederacy (call 
it by what name you may) — had that power represented by 
the Southern Confederacy held with a grip sufficiently strong 
the lower part of the Mississippi River, we would have been 
a subjugated people ; and they would have dictated to us if we 
had given up the possession of the lower Mississippi. It was 
vital to us, "and we fought for it and won. We determined to 
have it ; but we could not go down with our frail boats past 
the batteries of Vicksburg. It was a physical impossibility ; 
therefore what was to be done ? After the Tallahatchie hne 
was carried, Yicksburg was the next point. I went with a 
small and hastily collected force, and repeatedly endeavored 
to make a lodgment on the bluff between Vicksburg and 
Haines' Bluff, while General Grant moved with his main army 
so as to place himself on the high plateau behind Vicksburg ; 
but ' man proposes and God disposes,' and we failed on that 
occasion. I then gathered my hastily collected force and went 
down further ; and then, for the first time, I took General Blair 
and his brigade under my command. 

" On the very day I had agreed to be there I was there, and 
we swung our flanks around, and the present governor of Mis- 
souri fell a prisoner to the enemy on that day. We failed. I 
waited anxiously for a co-operating force inland and below us, 
but they did not come, and after I had made the assault I 
learned that the depot at Holly Springs had been broken up, 
and that General Grant had sent me word not to attempt it. 
But it was too late. Nevertheless, although we were unable 
to carry it at first, there were other things to be done. The 
war covered such a vast area there was plenty to do. I thought 
of that affair at Arkansas Post, although others claim it, and 
they may have it if they want it. We cleaned them out there, 
and General Grant then brought his army to Vicksburg. And 
you in St. Louis remember weE that long winter — how we 
were on the levee, with the waters rising and drowning us like 
muskrats ; how we were seeking channels through Deer Creek 
and Yazoo Pass, and how we finally cut a canal across the 



AT HOME. 



471 



peninsula, in front of Vicksburg. But all tliat time the true 
movement was the original movement, and every thing ap- 
proximating to it came nearer the truth. But we could not 
make any retrograde movement. Why ? Because your peo- 
ple at the North were too noisy. 

" We could not take any step backward, and for that reason 
we were forced to run the batteries at Vicksburg, and make a 
lodgment on the ridges on some of the bluffs below Vicksburg, 
It is said I protested against it. It is folly, I never protested 
in my Hfe — never. On the contrary. General Grant rested on 
me probably more responsibiHty even than any other com- 
mander under him ; for he wrote to me, * I want you to move 
on Haines' Bluff to enable me to pass to the next fort below — 
Grand GuK. I hate to ask you, because the fervor of the 
North will accuse you of being rebellious again.' I love Grant 
for his kindness. I did make the feint on Haines' Bluff, and 
by that means Grant ran the blockade easily to Grand Gulf, 
and made a lodgment down there, and got his army up on the 
high plateau in the rear of Vicksburg, while you people here 
were beguiled into the behef that Sherman was again repulsed. 
But we did not repose confidence in everybody. Then fol- 
lowed the movements on Jackson, and the 4th of July placed 
us in possession of that great stronghold, Vicksburg, and then, 
as Mr. Lincoln said, ' the Mississippi went unvexed to the sea.' 

"From that day to this the war has been virtually and 
properly settled. It was a certainty then. They would have 
said, ' We give up ;' but Davis would not ratify it, and he had 
them under good disciphne, and therefore it was necessary to 
light again. Then came the affair- of Chickamauga. The 
Army of the Mississippi, lying along its banks, were called into 
a new field of action, and so one morning early I got orders to 
go to Chattanooga, I did not know where it was, hardly. I 
did not know the road to go there. But I found it, and got 
there in time. And although my men were shoeless, and the 
cold and bitter frosts of winter were upon us, yet I must still 
go to Knoxville, one hundred and thirteen miles further, to re- 
lieve Burnside. That march we made. Then winter forced 



472 SHERMAN AND fflS CAMPAIGNS. 

US to lie quiet. During that winter I took a little exercise 
down tlie river, but that is of no account." 

General Buell has since published a lengthy reply to this 
speech, showing, by official documents : I. That as early as 
the 3d of January, 1862, he himself proposed to General Hal- 
leck the identical plan of operations that was subsequently 
followed ; II. That General Halleck had at that time neither 
formed nor adopted any plan of operations for the ensuing 
campaign. General Buell also endeavors to prove that the 
delays which occurred in the execution of the plan were not 
chargeable to him. 

The prime object of General Sherman's remarks, however, 
was simply to award credit which he supposed due to one who 
had become his enemy. To that end he stated the facts as 
they came within his knowledge, and could hardly have been 
expected to be cognizant of the confidential dispatches quoted 
by General BueU. 

From St. Louis, General Sherman went to Chicago, Colum- 
bus, and other places, on his way home, everywhere heartily 
greeted by the people and the returned soldiers, and every- 
where compelled, in spite of himself, to satisfy the desire of 
the crowed for a speech. 

After his return to St. Louis, General Sherman was present, 
with General Grant, at a banquet given to a party of English 
capitalists, consisting of Mr. James McHenry, the Hon. T. 
Kinnaird, Sir Morton Peto, and others, at the Southern Hotel, 
on Thursday night, September 14th, 1865. General Grant, 
who was present, having been in vain called upon to reply to a 
toast. General Sherman said : — 

"Gentlemen — I regret exceedingly that my commanding 
general wdll not respond to the sentiment. As a citizen of St. 
Louis, rather than as an officer in the army, I will thank these 
gentlemen for the kindly mention they have made of General 
Grant, the w'hole army, and myself. I believe it is sincere. I 
beheve they appreciate and reahze the fact that General 



AT HOME. 473 

Gr ant, as the representative of the Army of the United States 
has had, fi'om the beginning to the end, but one single pur- 
pose in view. He has not sought to kill, slay, and destroy, 
but resolved on the first day of the war that this country 
should live one and inseparable forever. He felt as we all 
should feel, prepared for this very occasion, when honorable 
gentlemen may come from abroad, and not have occasion to 
blush that the sons of Englishmen permitted anarchy and 
downfall in the country intrusted to them. And notwith- 
standing the spirit of the press at one time in England, I be- 
lieve then and now every true Anglo-Saxon, every Irishman, 
and every Scotchman rejoiced, and rejoice now, that we are 
men, and that we did not permit our country to break in two 
or many sections. And, moreover, I believe every foreign 
nation — France, Spain, Germany, and Russia — have as much 
interest in our national existence as we have ourselves ; and 
now, that peace is once more attained, these gentlemen come 
of their own accord, generously and kindly, to see for them- 
selves whether we merit the assistance which they have in 
abundance to develop the resources of our country, yet new, 
with forests still standing on nine-tenths of it. They seem to 
be impressed favorably, and I have no doubt, in their influen- 
tial st^ions abroad, they will induce thousands and millions 
to think and feel as they do. They have seen this day the 
iron-clads stripped of their armor. They have seen your levee 
for three miies lined with peaceful steamboats loaded with 
corn and oats to go to that Southern country with which we 
have been at war. They see the lieutenant-general of all our 
armies dressed as a citizen at this table, and they will carry 
abroad a perfectly comprehensive, clear, and mathematical 
intelligence that we are at peace, that we want peace, and that 
we will have it, even at the expense of war. 

" But I am well assured that there is no nation that desu'es 
war with us ; that every question that can possibly arise can 
be adjusted by statesmen, by merchants, by men of intelli- 
gence and pubhc citizens, assembled together just as you are, 
discussing just as you would the affairs of the Pacific Eaih-oad, 



-t74 SHERMAJ:^ and his CAMrAIGNS. 

or any thing else — adjusting differences, striking the balance, 
and paying it out in bank when called for. Therefore, gentle- 
men, I am glad to see you among us, and I know the people 
of St. Louis are glad to see you. You can see in one hour 
what you could not procure by reading one thousand columns 
of closely printed matter in the London Times. There are 
things seen, things felt within, which cannot be described. 
Even Shakspeare fails to convey a full and mtcUigent descrip- 
tion of many thoughts, and no author can convey a description 
of a place or locality that will give you in a month of reading 
what you acquire to-day by simply running back and forth by 
our city, and traversing it right and left in carriages. 

" You have seen the streets of the city and the form and 
manner of building, and the character of the buildings ; and 
you have seen where but a few years ago there was nothing 
but a wild prairie, and where, as has been stated, forty years 
ago there was but a French village of four thousand inhabit- 
ants, and you find yourself in a palace — in a room which wiU 
compare favorably with any on earth. From these facts, you 
can arrive at conclusions in regard to the future. Whether 
vivid or not, it is for the future. The present you have seen 
for yourselves. You have seen the material resources of the 
country. The people of the country have heard the kindly 
words which you have spoken, and I know we receive it in the 
plain British meaning. I, therefore, simply, gentlemen, beg 
to assure you of my respect — a respect which all educated 
ofl&cers in the army bear to England, and all nations that act 
fairly, manfully, and without concealment." 



CONCLUSION. 475 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 



CONCLUSION. 



When Count Segur, in giving liis grajDliic account of Napo- 
leon's great Eussian campaign, declared it was impossible to 
comprehend the great events of history without a perfect 
knowledge of the character and manners of the principal actors, 
he disclosed a profound knowledge of his art. Such know- 
ledge of Sherman, however, can only be had by being associated 
with him both at home and in the field. If we form our esti- 
mate of General Sherman's character and manners from his 
brilliant but hasty letters and military reports alone, or from 
the record of his mihtary career, or from such descriptions of 
him as have been given by army corresj)ondents, or from all 
these sources of information together, we will be hkely to have 
a very imperfect idea of the man. The country, however, and 
the world will probably agTee in according him military genius 
of a high order. Indeed, this judgment can hardly be with- 
held without obHterating the most briUiant achievements of 
the war, still fresh in the memory of all. , 

It has been the fortune of but few eminent men like General 
Sherman, to receive both the applause and abuse usually ac- 
corded to greatness, in the short space of four years. It is too 
early to write his history. Fifty or a hundred years hence he 
will be better understood than now, and more appreciated. 

In personal appearance and manners. General Sherman is 
not essentially different from other men of American education 
and culture. At this writing, he is past forty-five years of age, 
of tall and commanding form ; and a stranger, introduced to 
him for the first time, without any previous knowledge of his 



476 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

real character, would be more impressed by his individuality 
than by his personal presence. His head is large and weU- 
developed, and covered with straight auburn hair. His eyes 
are dark hazel, large and piercing. He wears his hair care- 
lessly, and his beard short-cropped. The pictures of him in 
the shop windows hardly do justice to his actual personal ap- 
pearance, the deep lines of his face giving him the aspect of a 
man« of rather harsh and repulsive manners, not consonant 
with his ordinary habits and character. 

General Sherman always aims at what is practical, solid, 
and useful, and not to what is merely specious and attractive. 
His historical researches have, accordingly, been of greater 
use to him in actual experience than those of many a more 
widely-read student. He seems to have read history for the 
useful lessons it imparts ; to learn what men have said and 
done in the past, which may be used as guides for the future, 
just as he would judge of the topography of a country on the 
far side of a river, which he cannot see, by carefuUy surveying 
the side he can see. In conversation he is clear, direct, com- 
prehensive, and intelligent. In social Hfe he is exceedingly 
agreeable, polite, and hospitable, and is very fond of children, 
generally selecting a dancing partner from the little girls. His 
action in the case of the boy Howe, wounded at Yicksburg, 
and who showed such remarkable presence of mind amid 
danger, illustrates his appreciation of boys who give evidence 
of uncommon abihty and promise. Young Howe was sent to 
a naval school, at his suggestion ; and two other youths were 
selected by him, for meritorious conduct in the field, and sent 
to the Government academy at West Point. 

During the autumn of 1863, General Sherman sent for his 
family to \dsit him at his military camp on the Big Black, in 
Mississippi, to enjoy their society for a month or more, while 
his corps was being prepared for other operations. On the 
way back his eldest boy, WiUie, was taken ill and died. He 
had been made, by vote of the Thirteenth Regiment United 
States Infantry (his father's old regiment), an honorary ser- 
geant at nine years of age. This regiment escorted the re- 



CONCLUSION. 



477 



mains of tlie little sergeant, and bestowed the same honors as 
if he had been such officer in fact, which so touched the heart 
of the father that he wrote the following letter of acknowledg- 
ment, which is worthy of preservation : — 

" Qayoso House, Memphis, Tenn., 
October 4tli — Midniglit. 

" Captain C. C. Smith, 

Commanding Battalion, Thirteenth Regulars : 

" My Dear Fkiekd — I cannot sleep to-night till 1 record an 
expression of the deep feelings of my heart to you and to the 
officers and soldiers of the battalion for their kind behavior 
to my poor child, I reahze that you all feel for my family 
the attachment of kindred, and I assure you all of full reci- 
procity. 

" Consistent with a sense of duty to my profession and of- 
fice I could not leave my post, and sent for my family to come 
to me in that fatal chmate and in that sickly period of the 
year ; and behold the result ! The cliild that bore my name, 
and in whose future I reposed with more confidence than I 
did in my own plans of life, now floats a mere corpse, seeking 
a grave in a distant land, with a weeping mother, brother, 
and sisters clustered about him. But for myseK, I can ask 
no sympathy. On, on I must go to meet a soldier's fate, 
or see my country rise superior to all factions, till its flag 
is adored and respected by ourselves and all the powers of 
the earth. 

" But my poor Willie was, or thought he was, a sergeant of 
the Thirteenth. I have seen his eye brighten and his heart 
beat as he beheld the battalion under arms, and asked me if 
they were not real soldiers. Child as he was, he had the en- 
thusiasm, the pure love of truth, honor, and love of country 
which should animate all soldiers. 

" God only knows why he should die thus young. He is 
dead ; but will not be forgotten till those who knew him in life 
have followed him to that same mysterious end. 

'- Please convey to the battalion my heartfelt thanks ; and 



478 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

assure each and all that if in after years they call on me or 
mine, and mention that they were of the Thirteenth Kegulars 
when my poor Willie was a sergeant^ they will have a key to 
the affections of my family that will open all it has — that we 
will share with them our last blanket, our last crust. 

" Your friend, 

" W. T. Sherman, 

' Major-General." 

General Sherman is a thorough organizer, and believes in 
the necessity of adapting means to proper ends. He is no 
fatahst ; but, like Napoleon, seems to think " the gods gener- 
ally favor the strongest battalions ;" nevertheless, he prefers to ' 
have them well appointed, disciplined, and handled in battle, 
lest the gods might happen to help the other side. But he 
is not one of those cool, scientific, methodical, and tenacious 
men, bent on owing every thing to tactics and nothing to for- 
tune, and calculating every thing, even the chances of hazard ; 
nor yet does he rush into battle relying chiefly on the inspira- 
tion of his own genius and the happy chances of fortune. 
Different from all this, his theory is, so far as it can be deduced 
from his military operations, first to have a properly appointed 
and duly proportioned army equal to the undertaking in hand ; 
next, to school his army in tactics, so as to make it capable of 
quick and accurate movement ; thpn to accustom it to battle 
in minor engagements and secondary victories ; and finally, to 
strike home* for grand results. And in doing this. General 
Sherman hesitates at no detail of preparation however trifling, 
and never loses sight of the idea that every thing, after all, 
must depend on the head that plans and the hand that guides 
the whole. He has a constitution of iron and nerves of steel ; 
and his thoughts come to him with the quickness of the light- 
ning and as clear as the hght. Before starting out for battle 
or on a campaign, he always makes himself acquainted with 
every r6ad, stream, and farm-house on his line of march ; and 
havjng these, he calculates, with surprising accuracy, the to- 
pography of the country though he never saw it. He was 



CONCLUSION. 479 

three years studying the route of his campaigns through 
Georgia and the Carolinas ; not that he had any reason to be- 
lieve he would be called upon to lead an army over it, but 
because he saw in the dim future such a campaign would 
rventually be necessary to put down the rebellion. He was so 
impressed with this idea at the very beginning of the war, that 
he obtained from the Census Bureau in Washington a map, 
made at his own request, of the Cotton States, with a table 
showing the cattle, horses, and products of each county, ac- 
cording to the last census returns reported from those States ; 
so that afterwards, when the time for such enterprise arrived, 
he was practically familiar with the resources of the whole 
country on his line of march. 

General Sherman's miUtary orders and letters are models of 
composition ; and those written and issued by him during his 
operations from Chattanooga to Raleigh would, without much 
alteration, make an instructive hand-book of war. His habit 
is to look at every thing from a military standpoint ; and he 
invariably touches the salient point of his subject m the cen- 
tre. By both natural gift and education a soldier, he possesses 
a soldier's strength, and a soldier's high sense of honor ; and 
is not without a soldier's foibles. Straight-forward, high- 
minded, just, and honorable himself, he has no patience with 
such as resort to trickery or subterfuge to accomplish their 
ends. Of the trade of politicians he knows but little, and ever 
seemed careless to learn. He was once nominated for pubHc 
office, some years ago, in CaHfornia. His good-natured but 
sarcastic reply was : " Gentlemen, I am not eligible ; I am not 
properly educated to hold office." To understand the full 
force of the expression, it must be remembered it was uttered 
in San Francisco ten years ago. This nomination was the 
commencement of liis political career, and his reply was the 
end of it. 

General Sherman's master quahties are of the mihtary 
order. His military estimate of men requires the most heroic 
proportions ; his written orders are luminous of the inspiration 
of his own matchless genius ; and when his dii-ections to sub- 



480 SHERMAN AND HIS CAJNIPAIGNS. 

ordinates in command are given orally, they are absolutely 
irresistible ; and, estimating difficulties by his own ability to 
overcome them, he usually winds up by saying : " And this 
must be done at any expense of life or horseflesh." He 
speaks rapidly and distinctly, without hesitation, and using the 
fewest words possible. He is no orator, but with practice 
could easily become a pubhc speaker of more than ordinary 
power. 

General Sherman, in moral resources and in that peculiar 
power to inspire confidence and command men, is not unlike 
the popular idea of Andrew Jackson, who, as all the world 
knows, never hesitated to " take the responsibility," and do 
what he thought to be right, no matter who opposed. His 
marvellous power over his troops in the field consists in his 
being able to make them feel they are the best troops in the 
world, taking good care to make them so by never allowmg 
*them to be unnecessarily beaten, and by being himseK equal 
to the high courage of his army and the occasion at the proper 
moment. When he commanded the Fourth Corps, it was, in 
his estimation, the best corps in the Armies of the United 
States ; afterwards the Army of the Tennessee was the best 
army in the West, because it was his ; and, finally, when he 
had two other armies under his command, they were all best. 
" Show me," said Napoleon, " the best officer in the regiment." 
" Sire, they are all good." " Well, but point out to me the 
best." " Sire, they are all equally good." " Come, come, that 
is not an answer ; — say, like Themistocles, ' I am the first, my 
neighbor is the second.' " " Sire, I mention Captain Moncey, 
because he is absent — he was v/ounded." " What," said Na- 
poleon, " Moncey, my page, the son of the marshal ? Men- 
tion another." " Sire, he is the best." " Well, then, he shaU 
have the decoration." 

General Sherman seems to have had a similar regard for 
such as were wounded or disabled while serving in his com- 
mand. His letter-books show many instances of this, which 
the following extract from a letter written to a wounded officer 
will sufficiently illustrate : — 



CONCLUSION. 481 

" I see you desire promotion, and to be returned to duty iu 
the field. Indeed will I aid you all in my power to obtain 
what you merit and must have. The loss of your hand is no 
objection, and in your case is an evidence of title to promo- 
tion — with your one arm you are worth half a dozen ordinary 
men. Your left hand, guided by a good head and willing 
heart, can wield the sword to good purpose. I inclose you a 
strong letter t^ Governor Todd, urging your promotion." 

General Sherman's favorites among his officers were such as 
could do the best. He was always severe on such as sought 
personal advancement by unfair means. The following letter 
written by him from Atlanta, under date of July 25th, 1864, 
directed to Colonel Hardie at the War Office in Washington, 
is of itself more descriptive of General Sherman's method of 
treatment in such cases than any description we could give : — 

" I have your dispatch of yesterday announcing the ap- 
pointment of General as major-general. I am not ob- 
jecting to this appointment, but I wish to put on record this 
my emphatic opinion, that it is an act of injustice to officers 
who stand at their post in the day of danger to neglect them 

and advance such as Generals and , who left us 

in the midst of bullets to go to the rear in search of personal 
advancement. If the rear be the post of honor, then we had 
better change front on Washington." 

In further illustration of General Sherman's characteristics 
in the field, the following incident is given. When General 
Halleck ordered a junction of the Armies of the Ohio and 
Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing, in the spring of 1862, it was 
a part of his plan to destroy as much as possible of the 
Charleston and Memphis Eailroad between Corinth and luka, 
in order to embarrass the enemy in collecting his forces and 
supplies at the former place. This had been twice attempted 
by General Sherman without success. It was now determined 
to make another attempt, and break the road east of luka, 

31 



482 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

wlien he started for tliat purpose up the river with two gun- 
boats and a detachment of infantry under command of Gen- 
eral Fry, and a hundred picked cavaby selected from the 
thii'd battahon of the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, under command 
of Major Bowman, on transports, and landed in the night at 
Chickasaw, above the mouth of Bear Creek, and quietly in- 
vested the town while the inhabitants were asleej). Before 
daylight General Sherman had succeeded, by some means, in 
finding an intelhgent negro acquainted with the country and 
the roads, and from information derived from him quickly 
sketched a map of the country for the use of the cavalry. All 
things being arranged for the start, he called General Fry and 
Major Bowman one side and gave them their orders : " The 
object of this expedition is," said Sherman, " to destroy the 
railroad-bridge across Bear Creek and the tressel-work on this 
side. I have tried twice to break that road — it must be done 
now at any cost — it is worth millions to the Government — to 
fail now will be a disgi-ace to us all. Major, I expect you to 
surprise the guards, seize the bridge and burn it. I will look 
for the smoke about noon. General Fry, you march out on 
the pike and prevent the enemy fi'om sending forces from luka, 
to cut off the retreat, and if you hear fighting by the cavahy, 
burn the turnpike bridge and hm^ry on to the siq^port of the 
cavahy." 

The work was done precisely as ordered, and our troops 
returned to the gunboats the same night, a part of the infantry 
having marched thu"ty-four miles. 

It will be seen, by the foregoing, there is much in Sherman's 
manner and style of command to remind the reader of Soult : 
" I have chosen you," said that consummate general, address- 
ing himself to that most daring officer, Major Dulong — " I 
have chosen you, from the whole army, to seize the Ponte 
Neva, which has been cut by the enemy. Select a hundred 
grenadiers and twenty -five horsemen ; endeavor to surprise 
the guards and secui'e the passage of the bridge. If you 
succeed, say so ; but send no other report — your silence will 
suffice." 



CONCLUSION. 4g3 

General Sherman seems to compreliend the value of time in 
war. Every thing that he says in the presence of his officers, 
and all that he does, inspires all around him with the idea 
that not a moment must he lost. Above aU his other excellences 
shine his promptitude, celerity, and immeasurable activity. 
Always ready for the start, indefatigable on the march, omni- 
present in battle, relentless in pursuit, unfaihng in mental 
resources, fruitful of expedients, enthusiastic in victory, he 
seems to carry his army in his hand and push it forward with 
irresistible power. In all mihtary movements his strict 
punctuality is observable. In his own words, he " is always 
on time ;" whether starting from Yicksburg to Chattanooga on 
an hour's notice, or turning to the relief of Knoxville, or mov- 
ing down on Dalton on the very day appointed, or in the great 
marches to the sea and through the Carolinas. 

" Tell my old friend, D. D. Porter, to look out for me about 
Christmas," he wrote from Gaylesville ; four days before that 
time his army occuijied Savannah. His chief quartermaster 
and chief commissary were told to expect him on the North 
CaroHna coast on the 15th of March. On the 14th he entered 
Fayetteville and communicated with the sea. 

It will probably be the judgment of history that the deliver- 
ance of the country was not due so much to the foresight aud 
abihty of the administration and Congress as to the skill of 
our generals in the field, and the courage of our troops, whom 
no dangers could daunt and no hardships dishearten. Grant 
was made lieutenant-general to remedy the internal errors of 
the War Department at Washington, and Sherman's capture 
of Atlanta saved the presidential election and stimulated the 
patriotism of the people. While Sherman was leading his 
conquering legions to the sea. Congress Avas hesitating about 
filling up c ur decimated ranks by a general draft, rendering 
the great result doubtful at the very threshold of eventful 
triumph. " Give us a universal di'aft," wrote Sherman fi'om 
the battle-field near Atlanta ; " any man who can fight and 
won't fight now, ought to be made to fight, or be banished or 
denationalized." 



484 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Stanton, and General Halleck had jointly 
and severally managed the war until the mihtary establish- 
ment had been well-nigh destroyed, and the resources of the 
country well-nigh exhausted. No one understood this better 
than Mr. Lincoln himself, and none were more free to acknow- 
ledge it. " You know," he declared to Mr. Stanton, " we have 
been trying to manage this war thus far, but without success. 
I promised General Grant, when he accepted his present oJSice, 
he should not be interfered with in his military plans and 
operations by mere civihans. I think we will be obliged to 
let Mr. Grant (as Mrs. Grant calls him) have his own way ;" 
and this simple declaration was worth forty thousand men in 
the field. 

" When you were about to leave Atlanta for the Atlantic," 
wrote Mr. Lincoln to General Sherman, " I was anxious, if not 
fearful. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is 
all yours, for I believe none of us went further than to acqui- 
esce." " Not only, he continued, " does it afford the obvious 
and immediate mihtary advantages," etc., but " it brings those 
who sat in darkness to see a great hght." 

The preacher tells us, " no man can serve two masters," and 
the maxim is as true in war as in religion. General Sherman 
found it comparatively easy to co-operate mth the President 
his honest, candid, out-sj)oken, and enterprising charactei 
were such as Mr. Lincoln most needed and most admired. 
Sherman's practical character, his knowledge of business, his 
quickness of perception, and rapidity of execution, his clear 
statement, his ready answers, his accurate and varied intelli- 
gence on all subjects, whether as to the qualities of a horse, 
the proper keel of a steamboat, the length and depth of a 
river, the outfit of an army, or the laws of war, were precisely 
those qualities that charmed Mr. Lincoln, whose mind ever 
recurred to what was useful rather than ornamental. Even 
Sherman's frank, bold, and honest opposition to measures 
favored by Mr. Lincoln himself pleased him, especially in re- 
gard to matters connected with the army, such as trade in 
cotton and negro recruiting by Massachusetts agents ; and no 



CONCLUSION. 485 

one enjoyed Sherman's peculiar spice more than he did. Mr. 
Lincoln sought that Hght which comes from above, but he did 
not arrogantly despise the wisdom of man. He greatly ad- 
mired Sherman, and Sherman in turn strove earnestly and 
honestly to execute his pohcy. 

But not so with Mr. Stanton, who is Hable to false impres- 
sions beyond most men, is arrogant and proud of his arro- 
gance, as if it were a virtue ; fond of power, and unscrupulous 
in its exercise ; tenacious of his opinions, and holding on to 
them with a tenacity in proportion to their grossness, and often 
rash in the exercise of his enormous power, he will appear to 
the reader in strange contrast with the mild and judicious 
character of Mr. Lincoln. But he was probably the man for 
the place for the time being. It was the boast of Prince Met- 
ternich that he served, during the period when Napoleon was 
upturning thrones, as the grand high-constable for all the 
crown-heads of Europe, and Mr. Stanton has been ours during 
our own great civil war. Such a man was necessary, and he 
will take his place in the history of the country. But if Sher- 
man disUked Stanton because he could not understand him, 
Stanton in turn hated Sherman ; and the personal collision 
which came at last makes it necessary for the reader to make 
the acquaintance of both. Like Castor and Pollux among the 
constellations, it is difficult to look at one without seeing the 
other. If Mr. Stanton is a great organizer of war — " like 
Carnot" — he fights battles like a Brutus. " I Httle dreamed," 
wrote Sherman to General Halleck, " when you warned me of 
the assassin Clark being on my track, he would turn up in 
the direction and guise he did." Caesar's last speech — " Et 
tu Brute" — was more terse, but not more expressive than 
this. 

General Sherman was born of New England parents, and 
descended from New England stock. He was probably aU the 
better for being born in the then far West, amid the wilds, the 
hardships, and primitive people of the fi-ontier. The children 
of New England, like cereals, are often improved by trans- 



486 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

planting. On the western slope of tlie Alleghany Mountains 
the lands are richer, the rivers larger and longer, the lakes are 
magnificent, the prairies are almost boundless, and the climate 
is salubrious. There is ample room for all, food for all, work 
for all, and happiness for all. It was good fortune and happi- 
ness to be born in such a country. Society there was less 
conventional than in any other section of the country ; reh- 
gious denominations were more tolerant, religious creeds 
pinched the conscience less, and the population was more 
transient. In early times in the West, men seemed to forget 
for awhile the creeds to which they were educated. Presby- 
terians often became Methodists or Baptists, and Baptists be- 
came Presbyterians ; and some of each became Cathohcs, and 
Catholics, in turn, became Protestants, according to the cir- 
cumstances of each case. The ways to heaven were regarded 
like railways — the traveller ready to start on his momentous 
journey would generally take the first train of cars that came 
along, without special inquiry as to the character of the parties 
who owned the stock and run the road, taking his chances of 
making connections with the great " highway" as he neared 
his eternal home. Sherman's parents were Episcopalians, but 
the Episcopal Church was not well adapted to smaU settle- 
ments in the backwoods ; or if well adapted, was unable to 
keep track of all its flock scattered throughout the broad ex- 
panse, and hence the family availed themselves of such pious 
advantages, for awhile, as the Presbyterian Church could 
aiford. But General Sherman, while he has a sincere admira- 
tion for good Christians, has a most provoking disregard for 
religious creeds, regarding them as a sort of relative good or 
necessary evil, depending more or less upon the intelligence, 
honesty, and general excellence of the men who instruct, lead, 
and control the religious impulses of the human heart in their 
respective " commands." His appreciation of a Christian sol- 
dier may be inferred from the following. 

" At my last interview with Mr. Lincoln," he wrote to Mr. 
James E. Yeatman of the United States Sanitary Commission, 
May 21, 1865, " on his boat anchored in James Eiver, in the 



CONCLUSION. 487 

midst of the army, your name came up as one spoken of to fill 
the office of commissioner of refugees, freedmen, etc., and I vol- 
unteered my assertion that if you would accept office, which 
I doubted, the bureau could not go into more kind and chari- 
table hands ; but since that time the office has, properly 
enough, been given to General Howard, who has held high 
command under me for more than a year ; and I am sure you 
will be pleased to know that he is as pure a man as ever lived, 
a strict Christian, and a model soldier, the loss of an arm at- 
testing his service. He will do all that one man can do, if not 
forced to undertake impossibilities," etc. 

General Howard, it is well known, has been pious and ex- 
emplary from his boyhood, was ever faithful and devoted in 
the discharge of his religious duties, and this even whUe a 
student at West Point. He carried his religious principles 
with him into the army, and was guided and governed by 
them in all his relations with his officers and men. No matter 
who was permitted to share his mess or partake of his repast, 
whether the lowest subaltern of his command or General 
Sherman himself, no one thought to partake, if General How- 
ard were present, without first the invocation of the Divine 
blessing, himself usually leading, Hke the head of a family. 
General Sherman seems greatly to have admired the Christian 
character of General Howard, making frequent mention of him 
in his correspondence in terms similar to those above quoted ; 
and not only as a Christian but as a soldier, preferring him 
and promoting him to the command of one of his armies. 

From the same letter from which the last extract was taken, 
we make a further extract in regard to the Anderson^dlle pris- 
oners and the conclusion of the war : — 

" I was as glad as you could have been to learn that those 
boxes of stores, prepared by you with so much care and 
promptness for the Andersonville prisoners, reached them at 
last. I don't think I ever set my heart so strongly on any 
one thing as I did in attempting to rescue those prisoners ; 
and I had almost feared instead of doing them good I had 



488 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

actually done tliem harm, for they were changed from place 
to place to avoid me, and I could not with infantry overtake 
railroad trains. But at last their prison-doors are open ; and 
I trust we have arrived at a point when further war or battle, 
or severity, other than the punishment of crime by civil tribu- 
nals, is past. 

" You will have observed how fiercely I have been assailed 
for simply offering to the President ' terms' for his approval 
or disapproval, according to his best judgment — terms which, 
if fairly interpreted, mean, and only mean, an actual submis- 
sion by the rebel armies to the civil authority of the United 
States. No one can deny I have done the State some service 
in the field, but I have always desired that strife should cease 
at the earliest possible moment. I confess, without shame, I 
am sick and tired of fighting — its glory is all moonshine ; even 
success the most briUiant is over dead and mangled bodies, 
with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appeal- 
ing to me for sons, husbands, and fathers. You, too, have 
seen these things, and I know you also are tired of the war, 
and are wilHng to let the civil tribunals resume their place. 
And, sp far as I know, all the fighting men of our army want 
peace ; and it is only those who have never heard a shot, never 
heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded and lacerated 
(friend or foe), that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, 
more desolation. I knoiv the rebels are whipped to death, and 
I declare before God, as a man and a soldier, I will not strike 
a foe who stands unarmed and submissive before me, but 
would rather say — 'Go, and sin no more.' " 

In another letter, to Chief-Justice Chase, written about the 
same time. General Sherman says : — 

" I have had abundant opportunities of knowing these people 
(the people of the South), both before the war, durmg its ex- 
istence, and since their public acknowledgment of submission 
to the national authority, and I have no fear of them, armed 
or disarmed, and believe that by one single stroke of the pen, 



CONCLUSION. 439 

nine-tentlis of them can be restored to full relations with our 
Government, so as to pay taxes and Hve in peace ; and in war 
I would not hesitate to mingle with them and lead them to 
battle against our national foes. But we must deal with them 
with frankness and candor, and not with doubt, hesitancy, and 
prevarication. The nine-tenths would, from motives of self- 
interest, restrain the other mischievous tenth, or compel them 
to migrate to some other country, like Mexico, cursed with 
anarcliy and civil war." 

And in a letter to General Schofield, under date of May 28, 
1865, General Sherman wi'ote on the same subject : — 

" I have watched your course in North Carolina and approve 
it. Maintain peace and good order, and let law and harmony 
grow up naturally. I would have preferred to leap more 
directly to the result, but the same end may be attaped by the 
slower process you adopt. 

" So strong has become the National Government, by reason 
of our successful w^ar, that I laugh at the fears of those who 
dread that rebels may regain some political power in their 
several States. Supposing they do, it is but local, and can in 
no way endanger the whole country. 

" I think I see ah-eady signs that events are sweeping all to 
the very conclusion I jumped at in my ' terms,' but I have re- 
frained fi'om discussing them on their merits, till in after times 
when it may be demonstrated that the plan sketched by me 
was at least in the right direction and constitutional, whether 
popular or not. The people of this country are subject to the 
constitution, and even they cannot disregard it without a revo- 
lution, the very thing we have been fighting against." 

Such were General Sherman's views and sentiments, as 
stated by himself, in the midst of stirring events of the times. 
They may be popular or unpopular, but no one wiU dispute 
the sincerity with w^hich they were uttered. A more honest 
man than General Sherman does not Hve, and he is as gen- 



490 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

erous as lie is honest. Let those who shall come after us 
judge the man and his actions. To this test all men must 
submit. Time ever withers the laurels of the selfish and 
base, but freshens the beauty of virtue. Sherman can afford 
to wait. 



APPENDIX. 



TESTIMONY OF GENERAL SHERMAN 

BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAE, KELATIVE 
ro THE TEUCE. 

Examined by the Chaieman : 

Question. Wliat is jour rank in the army ? 

Aivsiver. I am major-general in the regular army. 

Q. As your negotiation with the rebel General Johnston, in 
relation to his surrender, has been the subject of much pubhc 
comment, the committee desire you to state all the facts and 
circumstances in regard to it, or which you wish the pubhc to 
know. 

A. On the 15th day of April last I was at Ealeigh, in com- 
mand of three armies, the Army of the Ohio, the Army of the 
Cumberland, and the Army of the Tennessee ; my enemy was 
General Joseph E. Johnston, of the Confederate army, who 
commanded fifty thousand men, retreatmg along the railroad 
fi'om Raleigh, by Hillsboro', Greensboro', SaKsbury, and Char- 
lotte. I commenced pursuit by crossing the curve of that road 
in the direction of Ashboro' and Charlotte. After the head of 
my column had crossed the Cape Fear Eiver at Aven's Ferry, 
I received a communication from General Johnston, and an- 
swered it, copies of which I most jDromptly sent to the War 
Department, with a letter* addressed to the secretary of war, 

as follows. 

******* 

* See page 391. 



492 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

I met General Johnston in person, at a house five miles from 
Durham's Station, under a flag of truce. After a few prelim- 
inary remarks, he said to me, since Lee had surrendered his 
army at Appomattox Courthouse, of which he had just been 
advised, he looked upon further opposition by him as the 
greatest possible of crimes ; that he wanted to know whether 
I could make him any general concessions ; any thing by 
which he could maintain his hold and control of his army, and 
prevent its scattering ; any thing to satisfy the great yearning 
of their people. If so, he thought he could arrange terms 
satisfactory to both parties. He wanted to embrace the 
condition and fate of all the armies of the Southern Confed- 
eracy to the Rio Grande, — to make one job of it, as he 
termed it. 

I asked him what his powers were, — whether he could com- 
mand and control the fate of all the armies to the Eio Grande. 
He answered that he thought he could obtain the power, but 
he did not possess it at that moment ; he did not know where 
Mr. Davis was, but he thought if I could give him the time, 
he could find Mr. Breckinridge, whose orders would be obeyed 
everywhere, and he could pledge me his personal faith that 
whatever he undertook to do would be done. 

I had had frequent correspondence with the late President 
of the United States, with the secretary of war, mth General 
Halleck, and with General Grant, and the general impression 
left upon my mind was, that if a settlement could be made, 
consistent with the constitution of the United States, the laws 
of Congress, and the proclamation of the President, they would 
not o^ly be wilhng, but pleased to terminate the war by one 
single stroke of the pen. 

I needed time to finish the railroad from the Neuse Bridge 
up to Ealeigh, and thought I could put in four or five days of 
good time in making repairs to my road, even if I had to send 
propositions to Washington. I therefore consented to delay 
twenty-four hours, to enable General Johnston to procure 
what would satisfy me as to his authority and abihty, as a 
mihtary man, to do what he undertook to do. I therefore 



APPENDIX. 493 

consented to meet him the next day, the 17th, at twelve o'clock 
noon, at the same place. 

We did meet again ; after a general interchange of courte- 
sies, he remarked that he was then prepared to satisfy me that 
he could fulfil the terms of our conversation of the day before. 
He then asked me what I was willing to do. I told him, in 
the first place, I could not deal with anybody except men 
recognized by us as " belligerents," because no military man 
could go beyond that fact. The attorney-general has since so 
decided, and any man of common sense so understood it be- 
fore ; there was no difference upon that point as to the men 
and oJSicers accompanying the Confederate armies. I told 
him that the President of the United States, by a published 
proclamation, had enabled every man in the Southern Con- 
federate army, of the rank of colonel and under, to procure 
and obtain amnesty, by simply taking the oath of allegiance 
to the United States, and agreemg to go to his home and live 
in peace. The terms of General Grant to General Lee ex- 
tended the same principles to the officers, of the rank of brig- 
adier-general and upward, including the highest ofiicer in the 
Confederate army, viz.. General Lee, the commander-in-chief. 
I was, therefore, willing to proceed with him upon the same 
principles. 

Then a conversation arose as to what form of government 
they were to have in the South. Were the States there to 
l,e dissevered, and were the people to be denied representa- 
tion in Congress? Were the people there to be, in the com- 
mon language of the people of the South, slaves to the people 
of the North ? Of course, I said " No ; we deske that you 
shall regain your position as citizens of the United States, free 
and equal to us in all respects, and wish representation upon 
the condition of submission to the lawful authority of the 
United States, as defined by the Constitution, the United 
States courts, and the authority of the United States sup- 
ported by those courts." He then remarked to me that Gen- 
eral Breckinridge, a major-general in the Confederate army, 
was near by, and if I had no objection, he would like to have 



494 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

him present. I called his attention to the fact that I had, on 
the day before, explained to him that any negotiations between 
us must be confined to belligerents. He replied that he un- 
derstood that perfectly. " But," said he, " Breckinridge, 
whom you do not know, save by public rumor as secretary of 
war, is, in fact, a major-general ; I give you my word for that. 
Have you any objection to his being present as a major-gen- 
eral?" I replied, "I have no objection to any military officer 
you desire being present as a part of your personal staff." I, 
myself, had my own officers near me at call. 

Breckinridge came, a stranger to me, whom I had never 
spoken to in my life, and he joined in the conversation ; wliile 
that conversation was going on a courier arrived and handed 
to General Johnston a package of papers ; he and Breckin- 
ridge sat down and looked over them for some time, and put 
them away in their pockets : what they were, I know not, but 
one of them was a shp of paper, written, as General Johnston 
told me, by Mr. Reagan, postmaster-general of the Southern 
Confederacy : they seemed to talk about it sotto voce, and 
finally handed it to me. I glanced over it : it was preceded by 
a preamble and closed with a few general terms. I rejected it 
at once. 

We then discussed matters ; talked about slavery, talked 
about every thing. There was a universal assent that slavery 
was as dead as any thing could be ; that it was one of the 
issues of the war long since determined ; and even General 
Johnston laughed at the folly of the Confederate government 
in raising negro soldiers, whereby they gave us all the points 
of the case. I told them that slavery had been treated by us 
as a dead institution, first by one class of men from the initia- 
tion of the war, and then from the date of the emancipation 
proclamation of President Lincoln, and finally by the assent 
of all parties. As to reconstruction, I told them I did not 
know what the views of tLe administration were. Mr. Lincoln, 
up to that time, in letters and telegrams to me, encouraged me 
by all the words which could be used in general terms, to 
believe, not only in his willingness, but in his desires that I 



APPENDIX. 495 

should make terms with civil authorities, governors, and legis- 
latures, even as far back as 1863. It then occurred to me 
that I might write off some general propositions, meaning 
Kttle or much, according to the construction of parties— what 
I would term "ghttering generahties" — and send them to 
Washington, which I could do in four days. That would 
enable the new President to give me a clue to his pohcy in the 
important juncture which was then upon us : for the war was 
over ; the highest military authorities of the Southern Con- 
federacy so confessed to me openly, unconcealedly, and re- 
peatedly. I therefore drew up the memorandum (which has 
been published to the world)* for the purpose of referring 
it to the proper executive authority of the United States, and 
enabhng him to define to me what I might promise, simply to 
cover the pride of the Southern men, who thereby became 
subordinate to the law^s of the United States, civil and military. 
I made no concessions to General Johnston's army, or the 
troops under his direction and immediate control ; and if any 
concessions were made in those general terms, they were made 
because I then beheved, and now believe, they would have 
delivered into the hands of the United States the absolute 
control of every Confederate officer and soldier, all their 
muster-rolls, and all their arms. It would save us all the 
incidental expense resulting from the mihtary occupation of 
that country by provost-marshals, provost-guards, military 
governors, and all the machinery by which alone military 
power can reach the people of a civilized country. It would 
have surrendered to us the armies of Dick Taylor and Kirb}- 
Smith, both of them capable of doing infinite mischief to us, 
by exhausting the resources of the whole country upon which 
we were to depend for the future extinguishment of our debt, 
forced upon us by their wrongful and rebelhous conduct. I 
never designed to shelter a human being fi-om any hability 
incurred in consequence of past acts to the civil tribunals of 
our country, and I do not beheve a fair and manly interpreta- 



See the original truce, page 396. 



496 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

tiou of my terms can so construe tliem, for tlie words " Unite-d 
States courts," " United States authorities," " limitations of 
executive power," occur in every paragraph. And if they 
seemingly yield terms better than the pubHc would desire to 
be given to the Southern people, if studied closely and well it 
will be found that there is an absolute submission on their 
part to the Government of the United States, either through 
its executive, legislative, or judicial authorities. Every step 
in the programme of these negotiations was reported punctu- 
ally, clearly, and fully, by the most rapid means of communica- 
tion that I had. And yet I neglected not one single precau- 
tion necessary to reap the full benefits of my position, in case 
the Government amended, altered, or absolutely annulled 
those terms. As those matters were necessarily mingled with 
the military history of the period, I would like, at this point, 
to submit to the committee my official report, which has been 
in the hands of the proper officer, Brigadier-General Rawlins, 
chief of staff of the Army of the United States, since about the 
12th instant. It was made by me at Manchester, Yirginia, 
after I had returned from Savannah, whither I went to open up 
the Savannah Eiver, and reap the fruits of my negotiations 
with General Johnston, and to give General "Wilson's force in 
the interior a safe and sure base from which he could draw 
the necessary supply of clothing and food for his command. 
It was only after I fulfilled aU this that I learned for the first 
time, through the public press, that my conduct had been 
animadverted upon, not only by the secretary of war,* but by 
General Halleck and the press of the country at large. I did 
feel hurt and annoyed that Mr. Stanton coupled with the terms 
of my memorandum, confided to him, a copy of a telegram to 
General Grant, which he had never sent to me. He knew, on 
the contrary, that when he was at Savannah, I had negotia- 
tions with civil parties there, for he was present in my room 
when those parties were conferring with me ; and I TVTote him 
a letter, setting forth many points of it, in which I said I 

* See page 418. 



APPENDIX. 497 

aimed to make a split in Jefferson Davis' dominions, by segre- 
gating Georgia JErom their course. Those were civil negotia- 
tions, and, far from being discouraged from making them, I 
was encouraged by Secretary Stanton himself to make them. 

By coupling the note to General Grant with my memoran- 
dum, he gave the world fairly and clearly to infer that I was 
in possession of it. Now I was not in possession of it, and I 
have reason to know that Mr. Stanton knew I was not in pos- 
session of it. Next met me General HaUeck's telegram,* in- 
dorsed by Mr. Stanton, in which they publicly avowed an act 
of perfidy — namely, the violation of my terms, which I had a 
right to make, and which, by the laws of war and by the laws 
of Congress, is punishable by death, and no other punish- 
ment. Next, they ordered an army to pursue my enemy, 
who was known to be surrendering to me, in the presence of 
General Grant himseK, their superior ojfficer ; and, finally, they 
sent orders to General Wilson and to General Thomas — my 
subordinates, acting under me, on a plan of the most magnifi- 
cent scale, admirably executed — to defeat my orders, and to 
thwart the interests of the Government of the United States. 
I did feel indignant — I do feel indignant. As to my own 
honor, I can protect it. In my letter of the 15th of April, I 
used this language : " I have invited Governor Vance to return 
-to Ealeigh, with the ci-\dl ofiicers of his State." I did so be- 
cause President Lincoln had himseK encouraged me to a 
similar course with the governor of Georgia, when I was at 
Atlanta. And here was the opportunity which the secretary 
of war should have taken to put me on my guard against 
making terms with civil authorities, if such were the settled 
policy of our Government. Had President Lincoln Hved, I 
know he would have sustained me. 

The following is my report,t which I desire to have incor- 
porated into, and made part of, my testimony : 



* See page 433. f See Chapters XXVI. to XXX., ante. 

32 



498 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

Q. Did you have, near Fortress Monroe, a conference Ts-ith 
President Lincoln ; and if so, about what time ? 

A. I met General Grant and Mr. Lincoln on board a steam- 
boat, lying at the wharf at City Point, during the evening of 
the 27th of March ; I resumed my visit to the President on 
board the same steamer anchored in the stream the following 
day. General Grant being present on both occasions. 

Q. In those conferences was any arrangement made with 
you and General Grant, or either of you, in regard to the 
manner of arranging business with the Confederacy in regard 
to terms of peace ? 

A. Nothing definite ; it was simply a matter of general con- 
versation, nothing specific and definite. 

Q. At what time did you learn that President Lincoln had 
assented to the assembling of the Virginia rebel Legislature ? 

A. I knew of it on the 18th of April, I think ; but I procured 
a paper with the specific order of General Weitzel, also a copy 
of the amnesty proclamation on the 20th of April. 

Q. You did not know, at that time, ihat that arrangement 
had been rescinded by the President ? 

A. No, sir ; I did not know that until afterwards ; the mo- 
ment I heard of that I notified General Johnston of it. 

Q. Then at the time you entered into this arrangement with 
General Johnston, you knew that General Weitzel had ap- 
proved of the calling together of the rebel Legislature of Yir- 
ginia, by the assent of the President ? 

A. I knew of it by some source unoflicially ; I succeeded in 
getting a copy of the paper containing General Weitzel's order 
on the 20th or 21st of April.* 

Q. But at the time of your arrangement you did not know 
that that order had been rescinded ? 

A. No, sir ; I learned that several days afterwards, and at 
once sent word to General Johnston.t 

Q. At the time of your arrangement you also knew of the 
surrender of Lee's army, and the terms of that surrender ? 

* See page 420. t See page 426. 



APPENDIX. 499 

A. I had that officially from General Grant ; I got that at 
Smithfield, on the 12th of April. 

Q. I have what purports to be a letter from you to John- 
ston, which seems to imply that you intended to make the 
arrangement on the terms of Lee's surrender. The letter is 
as follows.* 



A. Those were the terms as to his own army ; but the con- 
cessions I made him were for the purpose of embracing other 
armies. 

Q. And the writings you signed were to include other armies? 

A. The armies of Kirby Smith and Dick Taylor, so that 
afterwards no man within the limits of the Southern Confed- 
eracy could claim to belong to any Confederate army in ex- 
istence. 

Q. The President addressed a note to General Grant, per- 
haps not to you, to the e£fect of forbidding officers of the 
army from entering into any thing but strictly mihtary arrange- 
ments, leaving civil matters entirely to him ? 

A. I never saw such a note signed by President Lincoln. 
Mr. Stanton made such a note or telegram, and says it was by 
President Lincoln's dictation : he made it to General Grant, 
but never to me ; on the contrary, while I was in Georgia, Mr. 
Lincoln telegraphed to me encouraging me to discuss matters 
with Governor Brown and Mr. Stephens. 

Q. Then you had no notice of that order to General Grant. 

A. I had no knowledge of it, officially or otherwise. 

Q. In the published report of your agreement there is nothing 
about slavery, I believe ? 

A. There was nothing said about slavery, because it did 
not fall within the category of military questions, and we could 
not make it so. It was a legal question, which the President 
had disposed of, overriding all our action. We had to treat 
the slave as free, because the President, our commander-in- 

* See page 390. 



500 SHERMAN AND fflS CAMPAIGNS. 

chief, said be was free. For me to have renewed the question 
when that decision was made, would have involved the ab- 
surdity of an inferior imdertaking to qualify the work of his 
superior, 

Q. That was the reason why it was not mentioned ? 

A. Yes, sir ; subsequently I wrote a note to Johnston, stat- 
ing that I thought it would be well to mention it for political 
effect, when we came to draw up the final terms with pre- 
cision : that note was written pending the time my memoran- 
dum was going to Washington, and before an answer had been 
returned. 

Q. At the time you entered into these negotiations was 
Johnston in a condition to offer any effective resistance to 
your army ? 

A. He could not have resisted my army an hour, if I could 
have got hold of him ; but he could have escaped from me by 
breaking up into small parties, or by taking the country roads, 
travelling faster than my army, vsdth trains, could have pur- 
sued. 

Q. Then your object in negotiating was to keep his army 
from scattering into guerrilla bands ? 

A. That was my chief object ; I so oiOficially notified the 
War Department. 

Q. And not because there was any doubt about the result 
of a battle ? 

A. There was no question as to the result of a battle, and I 
knew it ; every soldier knew it. Johnston said, in the first 
five minutes of our conversation, that any further resistance 
on his part would be an act of folly, and all he wanted was to 
keep his army from dispersing. 

By Me. Loan: 

Q. In your examination by the chairman you stated that 
you were acting in pursuance of instructions from Mr. Lin- 
coln, derived from his letters and telegrams at different 
times ? 

A. Yes, sir. 



APPENDIX 501 

Q. Have you any of these letters and telegrams whicli you 
can furnish to the committee ? 

A. I can furnish you a copy of a dispatch to General Hal- 
leck from Atlanta, in which I stated that I had invited Gov- 
ernor Brown and Vice-President Stevens to meet us ; and I can 
give you a copy of Mr. Lincohi's answer, for my dispatch was 
referred to him, in which he said he felt much interested in 
my dispatch, and encouraged me to allow their visit : but the 
letter to which I referred specially was a longer letter, which I 
wrote to General Halleck from my camp on Big Black, Mis- 
sissippi, at General Halleck's instigation, in September, 1863, 
which was received in Washington, and submitted to Mr. 
Lincoln, who desired to have it pubHshed, to which I would 
not consent. In that letter I gave my opinions fully and frankly, 
not only upon the military situation, but also the civil policy 
necessary. Mr. Lincoln expressed himseK highly pleased with 
my views, and desired to make them pubhc, but I preferred 
not to do so. 

Q. And by subsequent acts he induced you to beheve he 
approved of these views ? 

A. I know he approved of them, and always encouraged me 
to carry out those views. 

By the Chairman : 

Q. The following is a letter published in the newspapers, 
purporting to have been addressed by you to Jolmston, dated 
April 21, 1865.* 



This is the letter in which you say that it would be weU to 
declare publicly that slavery is dead ? 
A. Yes, sir ; that is the letter. 

By Mr. Loan: 

Q. Will you furnish the committee a copy of the letter 

See page 410. 



502 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

written by you to Mr. Stanton, in January last, from Sa- 
vannah ? 

A. I mil do so. 

The Chairman : 

Q. And when the mamiscript of your testimony is prepared 
it wiU be remitted to you for revision, and you can add to it 
any statement or papers that you may subsequently desire or 
consider necessary. 

A. I have the above, and now subjoin copies of letters from 
my letter-book, in the order of the bringing in the questions 
revised by this inquiry : — 

" Headqtjakters Middle Defahtment of the Mississippi, 
In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, AprU 18, 1865. 

" To Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, or Major-General Halleck, 
Washington, D. C : 

"General — I inclose herewith a copy of an agreement made this 
day between General Joseph E. Johnston and myself, which, if approved 
by the Presidrent of the United States, will produce peace from the Po- 
tomac to the Rio Grande. Mr. Breckinridge was present at the confer- 
ence in the capacity of a major-general, and satisfied me of the ability 
of General Johnston to carry out to the full extent the terms of this 
agreement; and if you will get the President to simply indorse the 
copy, and commission me to carry out the terms, I will follow them to 
the conclusion. You will observe that it is an absolute submission oi 
the enemy to the lawful authorities of the United States, and disperses 
his armies absolutely ; and the point to which I attach most importance 
is, that the disposition and dispersement of the armies is done in such a 
manner as to prevent them breaking up into a guerrilla crew. On the 
other hand, we can retain just as much of an army as we please. I 
agree to the mode and manner of the surrender of armies set forth, as 
it gives the States the means of suppressing guerrillas, which we could 
not expect them to do if we strip them of all arms. 

" Both Generals Johnston and Breckinridge admitted that slavery was 
dead, and I could not insist on embracing it in such a paper, because it 
can be made with the States in detail. I know that all the men of sub- 
stance South sincerely want peace, and I do not believe they will resort 
to war again during this century. I have no doubt but that they Avill 
in the future be perfectly subordinate to the laws of the United States. 



APPENDIX. 503 

The moment my action in this matter is approved, I can spare five corps, 
and will ask for and leave General Schofield here with the Tenth Corps, 
and go myself with the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, 
and Twenty-third corps, via Burkesville and Gordonsville, to Frederick 
or Hagerstown, there to be paid and mustered out. 

"The question of finance is now the chief one, and every soldier and 
oflBcer not needed ought to go home at once. I would like to be able 
to begin the march North by May 1. 

" I urge on the part of the President speedy action, as it is important 
to get the Confederate armies to their homes, as well as our own. 
" I am, with great respect, 

*' Your obedient servant, 

" W. T. Sherman, 

" Major-General commanding." 

" Hkadquarters Military Department op the Mississippi, 
In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, AprU 18, 1865. 

" General H. W. Halleck, Chief of Staff, Washington, D. C. : 

"General — I received your dispatch describing the man Clark de- 
tailed to assassinate me. He had better be in a hurry or he will be too 
late. The news of Mr. Lincoln's death produced a most intense effect 
on our troops. At first I feared it would lead to excesses, but now it 
has softened down, and can easily be quieted. None evince more feel- 
ing than General Johnston, who admitted that the act was calculated to 
stain his cause with a dark hue ; and he contended that the loss was 
most severe on the South, who had begun to realize that Mr. Lincoln 
was the best friend the South had. 

" I cannot believe that even Mr. Davis was privy to the diabolical 
plot, but think it the emanation of a lot of young men of the South, who 
are very devils. I want to throw upon the South the care of this class 
of men, who will soon be as obnoxious to their industrious class as to us. 

" Had I pushed Johnson's army to an extremity, it would have dis- 
persed and done infinite mischief. Johnston informed me that General 
Stoneman had been at Salisbury, and was now about Statcsville. I 
have sent him orders to come to me. 

" General Johnston also informed me that General Wilson was at Co- 
lumbus, Ga., and he wanted me to arrest his progress. I leave that to 
you. Indeed, if the President sanctions my agreement with Johnston, 
our interest is to cease all destruction. Please give all orders necessary, 
according to the views the Executive may take, and inform him, if pos- 
sible, not to vary the terms at all, fori have considered every thing, and 



504 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

believe that the Confederate armies are dispersed. We can adjust all 
else fairly and well. 

" I am yours, etc., 

" W. T. Sherman, 

" Major-General commanding." 

Lest confusion should result to the mind of the committee 
by the latter part of the above letter, I state it was addressed 
to General Halleck, as chief of staff, when he was in the proper 
" line of order" to the commander-in-chief. The whole case 
changed when, on the 26th of April, he became the command- 
er of the separate division of the James. 

As stated in my testimony, General Grant reac«hed Kaleigh 
on the 24th, and on the 25th, on the supposition that I would 
start next day to chase Johnston's army, I wrote to him the 
following letter, dehvered in person : — 

"Headquarters Department of the Mississippi, 
In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, April 25, 18G5. 

Lieutenant-General TJ. S. Grant — Present : 

"General — I received your letter of April 21, with inclosures, yes- 
terday, and was well pleased that you came along, as you must have 
observed that I held the military control, so as to adapt it to any 
phase the case might assume. 

"It is but just that I should record the fact that I made my terms 
with General Johnston under the influence of the liberal terms you ex- 
tended to the army of General Lee, at Appomattox Courthouse, on the 
9th ; and the seeming policy of our Government, as evinced by the 
call of the Virginia Legislature and governor back to Richmond, under 
yours and President Lincoln's' very eyes. It now appears that this 
last act was done Avithout any consultation Avith you, or any know- 
ledge of Mr. Lincoln, but rather in opposition to a previous policy 
well considered. 

" I have not the least desire to interfere in the civil policy of our 
Government, but would shun it as something not to my liking. But 
occasions arise when a prompt seizure of results is forced on military 
commanders not in immediate communication with the proper authority. 
It is possible that the terms signed by General Johnston and myself 
were not clear enough on the point well understood between us — that 
our negotiations did not apply to any parties outside the officers 



APPENDIX. 



505 



and men of the Confederate armies, which could easily have been 
remedied. 

" No surrender of any army, not actually at the mercy of the an- 
tagonist, was ever made without ' terms,' and those always define the 
military status of the surrendered. Thus you stipulated that the ofiaccrs 
and men of Lee's array should not be molested at their homes so lone- 
as they obeyed the laws at the place of their residence. I do not wish 
to discuss these points involved in our recognition of the State govern- 
ments in actual existence, but will merely state my conclusion, to await 
the solution of the future. 

" Such action, on one point, in no manner recognizes for a moment 
the so-called Confederate government, or makes us liable for its debts or 
acts. The laws and acts done by the several States during the period 
of rebellion are void, because done without the oath prescribed by the 
constitution of the United States, which is a condition precedent. We 
have a right to use any sort of machinery to produce military results ; 
and it is the commonest thing for military commanders to use the civil 
government, in actual existence, as a means to an end. I do believe we 
could and can use the present State governments lawfully, constitution- 
ally, and as the very best possible means to produce the object desired, 
viz., entire and complete submission to the lawful authority of the 
United States. 

"As to punishment of past crimes, that is for the judiciary, and can 
in no manner or way be disturbed by our acts; and, so far as I can, I 
will use my influence that rebels shall suffer all the personal punishment 
provided by law, as also the civil liabilities accruing from their past 
acts. 

" What we now want is the new form of law, by which common men 
may regain their position of industry, so long disturbed by the war. 

" I now apprehend that the rebel army will disperse, and instead of 
dealing with six or seven States, we will have to deal with numberless 
bands of desperadoes, headed by such men as Moseby, Forrest, Ked Jack- 
son, and others, who know not and care not for danger and its conse- 
quences. 

" I am, with great respect, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" W. T. Sherman, 

'• Major-General." 

On the same day I wrote and mailed to the secretary of war 
the following : — 



506 SHERMAN AND HIS CARIPAIGNS. 

"Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 
In the Field, Raleigh. N. C, April 25, 1865. 

" Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington : 

" Dkar Sir — I have been furnished a copy of your letter of April 
21st, to General Grant, signifying your disapproval of the terms on 
which General Jolinston proposed to disarm and disperse the in- 
surgents, on condition of amnesty, etc. I admit my folly in em- 
bracing, in a military convention, any civil matter ; but, unfortunately, 
such is the nature of our situation, that they seem inextricably united, 
and I understood from you at Savannah that the financial state of the 
country demanded military success, and would warrant a little bending 
to policy. 

"When I had my conference with General Johnston, I had the 
public example before me of General Grant's terms to Lee's army, and 
General Weitzel's invitation to the Virginia Legislature to assemble. 
I skill believe that General Grant, of the Uuited States Army, has made 
a mistake; but that is none of my business. Mine is a different task; 
and I had flattered myself that by four years of patient and unremit- 
ting and successful labor, I deserved no reminder such as is contained 
in the last paragraph of your letter to General Grant, 

"You may assure the President that I heed his suggestion. 
" I am, truly, etc., 

" W. T. Sherman, 

" Major-General commanding." 

The last sentence refers to the fact that General Grant had 
been sent to Ealeigh to direct military movements. That was 
the first time in my life I had ever had a word of reproof from 
the Government of the United States, and I was naturally sen- 
sitive. But all I said to any one was to General Meigs, who 
came with General Grant : "It was not kind on the part of 
Mr. Secretary Stanton." The fact known did not gratify my 
mihtary conduct. The first interview with General Johnston 
followed, and the terms of capitulation were agreed uj^on and 
signed, and General Grant started for Washington bearing the 
news. 

When, on the 28tli of April, I received, in the New York 
Times, the most extraordinary budget of Mr. Stanton, which for 
the first time startled me, I wrote to General Grant this letter : 



APPENDIX. 



507 



" Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 

In the Field, April 28, 18G5. 
« Lieut.-General TJ. S. Grant, General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C: 

" General — Since you left me yesterday, I have seen the New York 
Times of the 24th inst., containing a budget of military news, autlicnti- 
cated by the signature of the secretary of war, which is grouped in 
such a way as to give very erroneous impressions. It embraces a copy 
of tl\e basis of agreement between myself and General Johnston, of 
April 18th, with commentaries, which it will be time enough to discuss 
two or three years hence, after the Government has experimented a 
little more in the machinery by which power reaches the scattered 
people of the vast country known as the South. But, in the mean 
time, I do think that my rank (if not past services) entitle me, at least, 
to the respect of keeping secret what was known to none but the 
cabinet, until further inquiry comes to be made, instead of giving 
publicity to documents I never saw, and drawing inferences wide of the 
truth. 

" I never saw, or had furnished me, a copy of Mr. Stanton's dispatch 
to you of the 3d of March, nor did Mr. Stanton, or any human being, 
ever convey to me its substance, or any thing like it ; but, on the con- 
trary, I had seen General Weitzel's in relation to the Virginia Legis- 
lature, made in Mr. Lincoln's very person, and had failed to discover 
any other official hints of the plan of reconstruction, or any idea calcu- 
lated to allay the fears of the people of the South, after the destruction 
of their armies and civil authorities would leave them without any 
government at all. 

" We should not drive a people to anarchy, and it is simply impos- 
sible for one military power to waste all the masses of this unhappy 
country. 

" I confess I did not want to drive General Johnston's army into bands 
of armed men, going about without purpose, and capable only of 
indefinite mischief. 

" But you saw, on your arrival at Raleigh, that I had my armies so 
disposed, that his escape was only possible in a disorganized shape ; and, 
as you did not choose to direct military operations in this quarter, I 
infer that you were satisfied with the military situation. 

" At all events, the moment I learned, what was proper enough, the 
disapproval of the President, I wished in such manner to compel the 
surrender of Johnston's whole army on the same terms as you had 
prescribed to General Lee's army, when you had it surrounded, and in 
your absolute power. 



508 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" Mr. Stanton, in stating that my order to General Stoneman was 
likely to result in the escape of ' Mr. Davis to Mexico or Europe,' is in 
deep error. 

" General Stoneman was not at Salisbury then, but had gone back to 
Statesville. Davis was supposed to be between us, and Stoneman was 
beyond him. 

" By turning towards me he was approaching Davis ; and, had he 
joined me as ordered, I then would have had a mounted force needed 
for that and other purposes. But even now I don't know that Mr. 
Stanton wants Davis caught. And as my official papers, deemed sacred, 
are hastily published to the world, it will be imprudent for me to state 
what has been done in this respect. 

" As the editor of the Times has (it may be) logically and fairly 
drawn the inference from this singular document, that I am insubordinate, 
I can only deny the intention. I have never in my life questioned or 
disobeyed an order, though many and many a time I have risked my 
life, my health, and reputation in obeying orders, or even hints, to 
execute plans and purposes not to my liking. It is not fair to withhold 
from me plans and policy (if any there be), and expect me to guess at 
them ; for facts and events appear quite different from different stand- 
points. For four years I have been in camp, dealing with soldiers, and 
I can assure you that the conclusion at which the cabinet arrived with 
such singular unanimity differs from mine. I have conferred freely with 
the best officers in this army as to the points involved in this controversy, 
and, strange to say, they were singularly unanimous in the other con- 
clusion, and they will learn with pain and sorrow that I am deemed 
insubordinate and wanting in common sense ; that I, who have labored 
day and night, winter and summer, for four years, and have brought 
an army of seventy thousand men in magnificent condition across a 
country deemed impassable, and placed it just where it was wanted 
almost on the day appointed, have brought discredit on the Govern- 
ment. 

" I do not wish to boast of this, but I do say that it entitled me to 
the courtesy of being consulted before publishing to the world a pro- 
position rightfully submitted to higher authority for adjudication, and 
then accompanied by statements which invited the press to be let loose 
on me. 

" It is true that non-combatants — men who sleep in comfort and 
security, while we watch on the distant lines — are better able to judge 
than we poor soldiers, who rarely see a newspaper, hardly can hear 
from our families, or stop long enough to get our pay. I envy not 



APPENDIX. 509 

the task of reconstruction, and am delighted that the secretary has re- 
lieved me of it. 

"As you did not undertake to assume the management of the affairs 
of this army, I infer that, on personal inspection, your mind arrived at 
a different conclusion from that of Mr. Secretary Stanton. I will there- 
fore go and execute your orders to the conclusion, and when done, will, 
with intense satisfaction, leave to the civil authorities the execution of 
the task of which they seem to me so jealous ; but, as an honest man 
and soldier, I invite them to follow my path, for they may see some 
things and hear some things that may disturb their philosophy. 
" With sincere respect, 

"W, T. Sherman, 
"Major-General commanding. 

" P. S. — As Mr. Stanton's singular paper has been published, I de- 
mand that this also be made public, though I am in no way responsible 
to the press, but to the law and my proper superiors. 

"W. T. Sherman, 
" Major-General commanding." 

Since my arrival at Washington, I have learned from Gen- 
eral Grant that this letter was received, but he preferred to 
withhold it until my arrival, as he knew I was maldng tow^ards 
Washington with my army. Upon my arrival, I did not 
insist on its pubhcation tiU it was drawn out by this inquiry. 
I also append here the copy of a letter from Colonel T. S. 
Bowers, assistant adjutant-general, asking me to modify my 
report as to the point of violating my trace, with my answer. 

" Headquasters ARmES of the UNriED States 
Washington, May 25, 1865. 

« Major-General W. T. Sherman, Commandinc/ Military Division of 
the Mississippi : 
"General Grant directed me to call your attention to the part of your 
report in which the necessity of maintaining your truce at the expense 
of many lives is spoken of. The general thinks that in making a truce 
the commander of an army can control only his own army, and that 
the hostile general must make his own arrangements with other armies 
acting against him. 



510 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" While independent generals acting against a common foe would 
naturally act in concert, the general claims that each must be the judge 
of his own duty, and responsible for its execution. 

" If you should wish, the report will be returned for any change you 
may deem best. 

*' Very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" T. S. Bowers, 
" Assistant Adjutant-General." 



" Headqtjaeteks MhiItaky Division of the Mississippi, 
Wasliington, D. C, May 26, 1865. 

" Col. T. S. Bowers, Assistant Adjutant- General, Washington, D. C: 

" Colonel — I had the honor to receive your letter of May 25, last 
evening, and I hasten to answer. I wish to precede it by renewing the 
assurance of my entire confidence and respect for the President and 
Lieutenant-General Grant, and that in all matters I will be most willing 
to shape my official and private conduct to suit their wishes. The past 
is beyond my control, and the matters embraced in the official report 
to which you refer are finished. It is but just the reasons that actuated 
me, right or wrong, should stand on record ; but in all future cases, 
should any arise, I will respect the decisions of General Grant, though I 
think them wrong. 

" Suppose a guard has prisoners in charge, and officers of another 
command should aim to rescue or kill them, is it not clear the guard 
must defend the prisoners as a safeguard ? So jealous is the military 
law to protect and maintain good faith when pledged, that the law ad- 
judges death, and no alternative punishment, to one who violates a 
safeguard in foreign ports. (See Articles of War, No. 55.) For mur- 
der, arson, treason, and the highest military crimes, the punishment 
prescribed by law is death, or some minor punishment ; but for the 
violation of a " safeguard," death, and death alone, is the prescribed 
penalty. I instance this to illustrate how, in military stipulations to an 
enemy, our Government commands and enforces "good faith." In dis- 
cussing the matter I would like to refer to many writers on military 
law, but am willing to take Halleck as the text. (See his chapter, 
No. 27.) 

" In the very first article he states that good faith should always be 
observed between enemies in war, because when our faith has been 
pledged to him, so far as the promise extends, he ceases to be an 



APPENDIX. 511 

enemy. lie tlien defines the meaning of compacts and conventions, 
and says tliey are made sometimes for a general or a partial suspension 
of hostilities for the " surrender of an army," etc. They may be special, 
limited to particular places or to particular forces, but of course can 
only bind the armies subject to the general who makes the truce, and 
co-extensive only with the extent of his command. This is all 1 ever 
claimed, and it clearly covers the whole case; all of North Carolina 
was in my immediate command, with General Schofield, its department 
commander, and his army present with me. I never asked the truce to 
have effect beyond my own territorial command. General llalleck 
himself, in his Order, No. "J, defines his own limits clearly enough, viz., 
' Such part of North Carolina as was not occupied by the command of 
Major-General Sherman.' lie could not pursue and cut off" Johnston's 
retreat towards Salisbury and Charlotte without invading my command ; 
and so patent was his purpose to defy and violate my truce, that Mr. 
Stanton's publication of the fact, not even yet recalled, modified, or ex- 
plained, was headed, ' Sherman's truce disregarded,' that the whole 
world drew but one inference. It admits of no other. I never claimed 
that that truce bound Generals Halleck or Canby within the sphere of 
their respective commands as defined by themselves. 

" It was a partial truce of very short duration, clearly within my 
limits and right, justified by events; and as in the case of prisoners in 
my custody, or the violation of a safeguard given by me in my own 
territorial limits, I am bound to maintain good faith. I prefer not to 
change my report, but again repeat that in all future cases I am willing 
to be governed by the interpretation of General Grant, although I again 
invite his attention to the limits of my command, and those of General 
Halleck at the time, and the pointed phraseology of General Ilalleck's 
dispatch to Mr. Stanton, wherein he reports that he had ordered his 
generals to pay no heed to my orders within the clearly defined area of 
my command. 

" I am, yours, 

" W. T. Sherman, 
" Major-General U. S. A., commanding." 

I now add two letters written to Mr. Stanton* at Savannah, 
and the dispatch from Atlanta mentioned in the body of my 
testimony, with Mr. Lincoln's answer : 

******* 



See pages 325 and 327. 



512 SHERMAN AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 

" Headqtjakteks MrLiTARY Division op the Mississippi, 
In tlie Field, Atlanta, Ga., September 15, 1864. 

" Major-General Halleck, Washington, D. C. : 

" My report is done, and will be forwarded as soon as I get a few 
more of the subordinate reports. I am now awaiting a courier from 
General Grant. All well, and troops in fine healthy camps, and supplies 
coming forward finely. Governor Brown has disbanded his militia, to 
gather the corn and sorghum of the State. I have reason to believe 
that he and Stephens want to visit me, and I have sent them a hearty 
invitation. I will exchange two thousand prisoners with Hood, but no 
more. 

" W. T. Sherman, 

" Major-General commanding." 

"Washington, D. C, September 17, 1864—10 a. m. 
" Major-General Sherman : 

"I feel great interest in the subjects of your dispatch mentioning 
corn and sorghum, and contemplate a visit to you. 

" A. Lincoln." 

I have not possession here of all my official records, most 
of which are out West, and I have selected the above from 
my more recent letter-books, and I offer them to show how 
prompt and full have been my official reports, and how un- 
necessary was all the clamor made touching my action and 
opinions at the time the basis of agreement of April 18 was 
submitted to the President. 



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